An oak is a tree A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to 6 m; some authors set a minimum of 10 cm trunk diameter or shrub A shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience. Small, low shrubs such as lavender, periwinkle and in the genus The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with Greek: γένος - genos, "race, stock, kin" Quercus (pronounced /ˈkwɜrkəs/;[1] Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including "oak tree"), of which about 400 species This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also apear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus. The genus is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. In a more specific sense deciduous means the dropping of a part that is no longer needed, or falling and evergreen In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year species extending from cold latitudes to tropical Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it accounts for 60% of the world's current human population. It is located chiefly in the eastern and northern hemispheres and the Americas The Americas, or America, are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area.

Oaks have spirally arranged leaves In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues. Leaves are also the sites in most plants where transpiration and guttation take place, with a lobed margin in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with a smooth margin. The flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds. For are catkins A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated but sometimes insect pollinated (as in Salix). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem which is often drooping. They are found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae,, produced in spring. The fruit The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from fruits is a nut Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seeds or fruit of some plants. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts. Nuts are an important source of nutrients for both humans and wildlife called an acorn The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oak tree . It is a nut, containing a single seed (rarely two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1 – 6 cm long and 0.8 – 4 cm broad. Acorns take between about 6 or 24 months (depending on the species) to mature; see List of Quercus species for, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule The calybium and the cupule make up the accessory fruit of flowering plants in the family Fagaceae. These two parts derive from different flower components; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species. The live oaks Live oak or evergreen oak is a general term for a number of unrelated oaks in several different sections of the genus Quercus that happen to share the characteristic of evergreen foliage are distinguished for being evergreen In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year, but are not actually a distinct group and instead dispersed across the genus.

Contents

Classification

Oak trees are flowering plants. The genus is divided into two subgenera In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. See rank and rank (zoology) and a number of sections In botany, a section is a low-level taxonomic rank directly below subgenus. See rank and rank (zoology). It is typically used to help organize very large genera, which may have hundreds of species:

Subgenus Quercus

See also: List of Quercus species This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species

The Subgenus Quercus is divided into the following Sections:

Subgenus Cyclobalanopsis

A hybrid white oak, possibly Quercus stellata Quercus stellata is an oak in the white oak group. It is a small tree, typically 10–15 m tall and 30–60 cm trunk diameter, though occasional specimens reach 30 m tall and 140 cm diameter. It is native to the eastern United States, from Connecticut in the northeast, west to southern Iowa, southwest to central Texas, and southeast to northern × Q. muhlenbergii The Chinquapin Oak is an oak in the white oak group (Quercus sect. Quercus). It is native to eastern North America, from Vermont and southern Ontario west to Iowa, south to northwest Florida and eastern Texas, with disjunct populations in west Texas and southeast New Mexico, and eastern Mexico from Coahuila south to Hidalgo. It is occasionally

Hybridisation

Interspecific hybridisation In biology, hybrid has two meanings. The first meaning is the result of interbreeding between two animals or plants of different taxa. Hybrids between different subspecies within a species are known as intra-specific hybrids. Hybrids between different species within the same genus (such as between lions and tigers) are sometimes known as is quite common among oaks, but usually only between species within the same section and especially in the white oak group (subgenus Quercus, section Quercus; see List of Quercus species This is an incomplete list of Quercus species. The genus contains about 400 species); no verified inter-section hybrids are known, except between species of sections Quercus and Mesobalanus, where several occur. Hybridisation is considered fairly common, if not widespread, in the plant world (certainly much more so than in animal taxa)[2]. Yet not all plant groups exhibit hybridisation. Botanists have often described white oaks as having weak internal barriers to hybridisation, that is to say, because they are wind pollinated Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Anemophilous plants may be either gymnosperms or angiosperms (flower-producing). However, flowering anemophilous species do not develop scented flowers, nor do they produce nectar. This distinguishes them from entomophilous and zoophilous species (whose, oaks often do not discriminate against being pollinated by another species in the same section (Quercus), thus resulting in fertile hybrid offspring[3]. Ecological stresses, especially near habitat margins, can also cause a breakdown of mate recognition as well as a reduction of male function (pollen quantity and quality) in one parent species[2][3]. Recent systematic studies appear to confirm the high tendency of Quercus species to hybridize as a result of a combination of the aforementioned factors.

Frequent hybridisation has brought about a number of consequences to oak populations around the world. Most notably, hybridization has led to the creation of large populations of hybrids, copious amounts of introgression Introgression, in genetics , is the movement of a gene (gene flow) from one species into the gene pool of another by backcrossing an interspecific hybrid with one of its parents. Introgression is a long-term process; it may take many hybrid generations before the backcrossing occurs. An example of introgression is that of a transgene from a, and even the evolution Evolutionary biology is a sub-field of biology concerned with the origin of species from a common descent and descent of species, as well as their change, multiplication and diversity over time. Someone who studies evolutionary biology is known as an evolutionary biologist of new species[4]. Frequent hybridisation and high levels of introgression have caused different species in the same populations to share up to 50% of their genetic information[5]. As a result of such high rates of hybridisation and introgression, genetic data often does not differentiate between two clearly morphologically distinct species, but rather by different populations[6]. In spite of numerous hypotheses, the way in which oak species are able to remain morphologically and ecologically distinct with such high levels of gene flow remains largely a mystery to botanists.

The consequences of frequent hybridisation can also be seen on a higher level. The Fagaceae The family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts. Fagaceous leaves are often lobed and both petioles and stipules are generally, the oak family, is known to be a very slowly evolving clade Ever since Darwin showed that all organisms share common ancestry, taxonomy has consistently attempted to represent and reflect the evolutionary history of organisms. The DNA and RNA analysis used in modern molecular biology has greatly helped in illuminating this history, by providing large amounts of new phylogenetic information which was compared to other angiosperms The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants. The flowering plants are distinguished from other seed plants by a series of apomorphies, or derived characteristics[7][8]. More than anything, however, hybridisation patterns in Quercus pose a great challenge to the concept of a species There are many definitions of what kind of unit a species is . A common definition is that of a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and separated from other such groups with which interbreeding does not (normally) happen. Other definitions may focus on similarity of DNA or morphology. Some species are. A species is often defined as a group of “actually or potentially interbreeding populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups”[9]. By this definition, many species of Quercus would be lumped together according to their geographic and ecological habitat, despite clear distinctions in morphology and, to a large extent, genetic data. Thus, although it may be difficult to place a definition on a species within a genus like Quercus, it is trivial and uninformative to apply the biological species concept There are many definitions of what kind of unit a species is . A common definition is that of a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and separated from other such groups with which interbreeding does not (normally) happen. Other definitions may focus on similarity of DNA or morphology. Some species are to all forms of life.

Uses

Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin Tannins are astringent, bitter plant polyphenols that either bind and precipitate or shrink proteins. The astringency from the tannins is what causes the dry and puckery feeling in the mouth following the consumption of red wine or an unripened fruit. The term tannin refers to the use of tannins in tanning animal hides into leather; however, the content. It also has very attractive grain markings, particularly when quarter-sawn. Wide, quarter-sawn boards of oak have been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior paneling of prestigious buildings such as the debating chamber of the British House of Commons in London, England, and in the construction of fine furniture. Oak wood, from Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, was used in Europe for the construction of ships, especially naval men of war, until the 19th century, and was the principal timber used in the construction of European timber-framed buildings. Today oakwood is still commonly used for furniture making and flooring, timber frame buildings, and for veneer production. Barrels in which red wines, sherry, brandy and spirits such as Scotch whisky and Bourbon whiskey are aged are made from European and American oak. The use of oak in wine can add many different dimensions to wine based on the type and style of the oak. Oak barrels, which may be charred before use, contribute to the colour, taste, and aroma, of the contents, imparting a desirable oaky vanillin flavour to these drinks. The great dilemma for wine producers is to choose between French and American oakwoods. French oaks (Quercus robur, Q. petraea) give the wine greater refinement and are chosen for best wines since they increase the price compared to those aged in American oak wood. [10] American oak contributes greater texture and resistance to ageing, but produces more violent wine bouquets.[10] Oak wood chips are used for smoking fish, meat, cheeses[11][12] and other foods.

Sherry maturing in oak barrels A cross section of the trunk of a cork oak, Quercus suber

The bark of Quercus suber, or Cork oak, is used to produce wine stoppers (corks). This species grows in the Mediterranean Sea region, with Portugal, Spain, Algeria and Morocco producing most of the world's supply. Of the North American oaks, the Northern red oak Quercus rubra is the most prized of the red oak group for lumber, all of which is marketed as red oak regardless of the species of origin. It is not good for outdoor use due to the open capillaries. One can blow air through an end grain piece 10 inches long to make bubbles come out in a glass of water. These opening give fungus easy access when the finish deteriorates. The standard for the lumber of the white oak group, all of which is marketed as white oak, is the White Oak Quercus alba. White Oak is often used to make wine barrels. The wood of the deciduous Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur and Sessile Oak Quercus petraea account for most of the European oak production, but evergreen species, such as Holm oak Quercus ilex, and Cork oak Quercus suber also produce valuable timber.

The bark of the White Oak is dried and used in medical preparations. Oak bark is also rich in tannin, and is used by tanners for tanning leather. Acorns are used for making flour or roasted for acorn coffee. Oak galls were used for centuries as the main ingredient in manuscript ink, harvested at a specific time of year.

Japanese oak is used in the making of professional drums from manufacturer Yamaha Drums. The rough, hard surface of oak gives the drum a brighter and louder tone compared to traditional drum materials such as maple and birch.[citation needed]

Diseases and pests

See also: List of Lepidoptera that feed on oaks

Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) is a water mould that can kill oaks within just a few weeks. Oak Wilt, caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum (a fungus closely related to Dutch Elm Disease), is also a lethal disease of some oaks, particularly the red oaks (the white oaks can be infected but generally live longer). Other dangers include wood-boring beetles, as well as root rot in older trees which may not be apparent on the outside, often only being discovered when the trees come down in a strong gale. Oak apples are galls on oaks made by the gall wasp. The female kermes scale causes galls to grow on kermes oak. Oaks are used as food plants by the larvae of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species such as the Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar, which can defoliate oak and other broadleaved tree species in North America.[13]

Toxicity

The leaves and acorns of the Oak tree are poisonous to horses in large amounts, due to the toxin tannic acid, and cause kidney damage and gastroenteritis. Additionally, once horses have a taste for the leaves and acorns, they may seek them out. Therefore, horse owners are encouraged to fence out Oak trees from their pasture, especially if forage is scarce. Symptoms of poisoning include lack of appetite, depression, constipation, diarrhea (which may contain blood), blood in urine, and colic.

Cultural significance

Oak branches on the coat of arms of Estonia

Political or symbolic

The oak is a common symbol of strength and endurance and has been chosen as the national tree of England, Estonia, France, Germany, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the United States, Basque Country, Wales and Serbia.[citation needed] Iowa has designated the oak as its official state tree in 1961, and the White Oak is the state tree of Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland. The Northern Red Oak is the provincial tree of Prince Edward Island, as well as the state tree of New Jersey. The Live Oak is the State Tree of Georgia.

The oak is the emblem of County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, as a vast amount of the county was covered in forests of the tree until relatively recently. The name of the county comes from the city of Derry, which originally in Irish was known as Doire meaning oak.

Oak leaves symbolize rank in the United States Armed Forces. A gold oak leaf indicates an O-4 (Major or Lt. Commander), whereas a silver oak leaf indicates an O-5 (Lt. Colonel or Commander). Arrangements of oak leaves, acorns and sprigs indicate different branches of the United States Navy Staff corps officers. Oak leaves are embroidered onto the covers worn by field grade officers and flag officers in the United States armed services.

Oak leaves were added to the Nazi honor, the Knight's Cross for added status.

The oak tree is used as a symbol by a number of political parties. It is the symbol of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom[14], and formerly of the Progressive Democrats in Ireland[15]. In the cultural arena, the oakleaf is the symbol of the National Trust (UK) and The Royal Oak Foundation.

Mythological

In Celtic mythology, it is the tree of doors, believed to be a gateway between worlds, or a place where portals could be erected.[citation needed]

In Norse mythology, the oak was sacred to the thunder god, Thor. Some scholars speculate that this is because the oak, as the largest tree in northern Europe, was the one most often struck by lightning. Thor's Oak was a sacred tree of the Germanic Chatti tribe. Its destruction marked the Christianisation of the heathen tribes by the Franks[citation needed].

In Classical mythology, the oak was a symbol of Zeus and his sacred tree. An example is the oracle of Dodona, which in prehistory consisted solely of a holy oak.[citation needed]

The Oak tree is traditionally sacred to Serbs and is widely used throughout Serbia on national and regional symbols both old and new.[citation needed]

In the Bible, the oak tree at Shechem is the site where Jacob buries the foreign gods of his people (Gen. 35:4) . In addition, Joshua erects a stone under an oak tree as the first covenant of the Lord (Josh. 24.25-7). In Isaiah 61, the prophet refers to the Israelites as "Oaks of Righteousness".

Historical

Several individual oak trees, such as the Royal Oak in Britain and the Charter Oak in the United States, are of great historical or cultural importance; for a list of important oaks, see Individual oak trees.

"The Proscribed Royalist, 1651", a famous painting by John Everett Millais, depicted a Royalist fleeing from Cromwell's forces and hidden in an oak. Millais painted the picture in Hayes, Kent, from a local oak tree that became known as the Millais Oak.[16]

Historical note on Linnaean species

Linnaeus described only five species of oak from eastern North America, based on general leaf form. These were White oak, Q. alba, Chestnut oak, Q. Montana, Red oak, Q. rubra, Willow oak, Q. phellos, and Water oak, Q. nigra. Because he was dealing with confusing leaf forms, the Q. prinus and Q. rubra specimens actually included mixed foliage of more than one species. For that reason, some taxonomists in the past proposed different names for these two species (Q. Montana and Q. borealis, respectively), but the original Linnaean names have now been lectotypified with only the specimens in Linnaeus' herbarium that refer to the species the names are applied to now.

Gallery

A Pedunculate oak in Denmark

An oak tree at night

Bark of Quercus robur

Southern live oak with spanish moss

Quercus mongolica Mongolian Oak in Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Old oak in Liernu, Belgium.

The Duke Prosper Oak in Enghien (Belgium).

Quercus petraea Sessile Oak in Sivry-Rance (Belgium).

Form of Kindred Spirit Hybrid Oak.

Angel Oak on Johns Island, South Carolina.

The Major Oak is an 800-1000 year old oak in Sherwood Forest, famed as the alleged principal hideout of Robin Hood.

The Mustard Powder lichen or Gold Dust lichen is common on old oak bark.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. ^ a b Arnold, M. L. 1997. Natural Hybridization and Evolution. Oxford University Press, New York.
  3. ^ a b Williams, Joseph H., William J. Boecklen, and Daniel J. Howard. 2001 Reproductive processes in two oak (Quercus) contact zones with different levels of hybridisation. Heredity 87: 680-690.
  4. ^ Conte, L., Cotti, C., and Cristofolini, G. 2007 Molecular evidence for hybrid origin of Quercus crenata Lam. (Fagaceae) from Q-cerris L. and Q-suber L. Plant Biosystems 141 (2): 181-193.
  5. ^ Gomory, D. and Schmidtova, J. 2007 Extent of nuclear genome sharing among white oak species (Quercus L. subgen. Lepidobalanus (Endl.) Oerst.) in Slovakia estimated by allozymes. Plant Systematics and Evolution 266 (3-4): 253-264.
  6. ^ Kelleher, CT., TR Hodkinson, GC Doublas, and DL Kelly. 2005 Species distinction in Irish populations of Quercus petraea and Q. robur: Morphological versus molecular analyses. Annals of Botany 96 (7): 1237–1246.
  7. ^ Frascaria, N., L. Maggia, M. Michaud, and J. Bousquet. 1993 The RBCL Gene Sequence from Chestnut Indicates a Slow Rate of Evolution in the Fagaceae. Genome 36 (4): 668-671.
  8. ^ Manos, PS., AM Stanford. 2001b The historical biogeography of Fagaceae: Tracking the tertiary history of temperate and subtropical forests of the Northern Hemisphere. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: S77-S93 Suppl. 6.
  9. ^ Raven, Peter H., George B. Johnson, Jonathan B. Losos, Susan R. Singer. Biology: Seventh Edition. McGraw Hill, New York, NY 2005.
  10. ^ a b (Spanish) La crianza del vino La Razón 23 de Agosto de 2007
  11. ^ 200g Oak Smoked Wensleydale - Williams Deli - tearoom richmond north
  12. ^ http://www.swaledalecheese.co.uk/cheese.htm
  13. ^ http://www.treehelp.com/trees/oak/oak-insects-gypsymoth.asp
  14. ^ http://www.conservatives.com
  15. ^ http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/about_us/coalition_government_1989_to_1992/
  16. ^ Millais, J.G., Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais, vol. 1, p.166; See also Arborecology, containing a photograph of the Millais oak

References

External links

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