Short Description
The sessile oak can grow up to 40 m tall. The trunk extends to the top and the crown is very loose.
Its leaves are obtusely lobed with long stalks. They are oval to obovate. The leaf base is wedge-shaped. The underside of the leaves generally has tufts of hair. The leaves grow alternately on the stem.
The bark is thick, grey-brown with deep vertical fissures.
There are male and female trees (dioecious). The male flowers are arranged in long drooping catkins and are greenish-yellow. The female flowers are noticeably more inconspicuous, slightly red and found at the tips of the new shoots in flower heads with short or no stalks.
The individual nuts (“acorns”) are clustered in seed heads. They have a short stalk.
Features
Sessile oak
Quercus petraea
obtusely lobed leaves
leaves with long stalks
seed heads with short stalks
In the city
The sessile oak is a common and popular street and urban tree species. It is salt and emission tolerant. Its potential to improve urban air quality by binding particulate matter is also discussed. The crowns and old trunks of the oaks provide an important habitat for numerous animals (especially birds and insects) and thus contribute to the ecological diversity in the city.
Fun Facts
n the forests of central Europe, oaks could only become established with human support; otherwise they would have been displaced by the european beech.
The tannins in bark, fruits and leaves are used in natural medicine against inflammations.
There is a lot of discussion amongst scientists whether the sessile oak and the common oak are different species in view of their unproblematic crossbreeding and the existence of numerous transitional forms.
It flowers from April to May.
The fruit ripening season is from September to October.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
- Usage:
Tannins from oak bark were used to tan leather.
The oak leaf is a symbol of permanence and the tree a symbol of longevity.
Leaves, bark and acorns (particularly unripe ones) are poisonous to horses and cattle.
Sources
Frucht, Nikanos, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus_petraea_02.jpg
Habitus, Willow, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus_petraea_06.jpg
männliche Blüte, Willow, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quercus_petraea_04.jpg
Aas, G. & Riedmiller, A. (2002) Laubbäume. Bestimmen – Kennenlernen – Schützen, Bindlach: Gondrom Verlag.
Amann, G. & Richter, P. (1962) Bäume und Sträucher des Waldes, Melsungen: Verlag J. Neumann – Neudamm.
Forum DIE GRÜNE STADT (2013) Bäume und Pflanzen lassen Städte atmen. Schwerpunkt - Feinstaub, URL: https://www.die-gruene-stadt.de/baeume-und-pflanzen-lassen-staedte-atmen.pdfx (Accessed: 02.08.2018).
Böhlmann, D. (2015) Laubbäume temperierter Klimate mit ihrer Artenvielfalt, Berlin: Patzer Verlag.
Mitchell, A. (1975) Die Wald- und Parkbäume Europas. Ein Bestimmungsbuch, Hamburg und Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.
Quartier, A. (1989) Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.
Roloff, A. (2013) Bäume in der Stadt. Besonderheiten - Funktion - Nutzen - Arten - Risiken, Stuttgart: Verlag Eugen Ulmer.
Page „Traubeneiche“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 13.04.2016, 09:10 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Traubeneiche&oldid=153432421 (Accessed: 26.05.2016).