C10: Oak, Quercus robur

The classic oak tree of the British Isles actually comes in two similar species, Q. robur and Q.petraea. Both can live to 800 years, pollarded trees living longer.than unpollarded. This is the common oak of lowland Britain on heavy clay soils. The crown is widely and irregularly domed with massive twisting branches. The bark is fissured into short narrow, vertical plates. The leaves are auricled and deeply cut. The male flowers are on slender catkins in thin bunches, shedding pollen in May. The female flowers with dark red stigmas are terminal on new shoots, the acorns on a stalk. Our Coronation oak, A11, has a celebratory plaque now almost invisibly buried in its base.