English Oak, Truffle Oak, Red Oak, Black oak
Quercus robur

Family: Fagaceae

What it is like

A tree with large branches. It grows 36 m high and spreads 25 m across. The crown is broad and often an irregular shape. It loses its leaves during the year. The young bark is smooth and shiny but becomes cracked. The young branches are hairy. The leaves are 5-17 cm long by 2-10 cm wide. The leaves are deep green and almost without leaf stalks. The leaves have rounded lobes. There are 5-7 lobes on each side. The acorns are carried singly or in clusters of 2 or 3. The female flower occurs in the axils of leaves near the tip of young branches. The cup encloses about 1/3 of the nut. The nut is oval and 1.5-1.8 cm long by 1-1.3 cm wide.

There are about 600 Quercus species. It is cultivated in China.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. It is native to Europe. It suits light soils. It does well in fertile alkaline soils. It suits hardiness zones 3-10. Arboretum Tasmania. National Arboretum Canberra.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Australia, Balkans, Belarus, Bosnia, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Central Asia, Chile, China, Czech Republic, East Africa, Estonia, Europe, Falklands, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mediterranean, Middle East, Netherlands, North America, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, St Helena, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, Ukraine, USA, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

The acorns are roasted and used as a coffee substitute. For eating they need to be boiled in water or ground and washed thoroughly to remove the water soluble tannins. They have been used as a famine food and for making bread. The acorns are roasted and used as a coffee substitute. The tree is the source of an edible manna. It is used instead of butter in cooking. The wood is used to flavour wines in barrels and food over barbecues. The leaves are used as a flavouring i pickles.

Edible parts

Gum, seeds, nuts, manna, seeds - coffee, leaves - flavouring

How it is grown

Plants are grown from seed.

It can live for several hundred years. n

Its other names

Local names

Dab, Dob, Dub, Eik, French oak, Leten dab, Ozols, Pedunculate oak, Russian oak, Sapli mese, Tamm, Uzulu, Xia li

Synonyms

Quercus borealis; Quercus pedunculata Ehrh.;