Friends of Belfast Botanic Gardens

Tree of the month series - this series of short articles about trees in the Belfast Botanic Gardens is compiled by members of the Friends group and Gardens staff. We aim to build up to a comprehensive archive of trees in Belfast Botanic Gardens. Each article will illustrate a tree growing in Belfast Botanic Gardens together with information from a range of sources. Click here to view the tree archive

Tree of the Month, October 2009

Golden red oak

Quercus rubra 'Aurea'

Jon Pilcher

The Golden red oak is a very rare variant of the Eastern North American red oak. Belfast Botanic Gardens has a fine young specimen at the end of the main lawn closest to the Palm House. In the spring it is a dazzling gold when it catches the early morning sun. Later in the summer the gold fades to a yellowish green. This young tree is starting to produce acorns in the rather flattened cups characteristic of red oak. Red oak acorns take two years to mature, remaining minute in the first year.

The golden red oak is one of a number of fine oak specimens in the tree collection of Belfast Botanic Gardens

 

Golden red oak in Belfast Botanic Gardens, spring	Golden red oak in Belfast Botanic Gardens, summer
Golden red oak, spring foliage	Golden red oak, acorn, late summer

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Photos taken in 2009 in Belfast Botanic Gardens. Copyright Jon Pilcher