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. The series will gradually build up to a comprehensive archive of information about the trees in Belfast Botanic gardens. Each article will illustrate the tree in Belfast together with information from a range of sources elsewhere. For each tree there is a map or link to a map showing the location in the gardens. Click here for the rest of the trees

Tree of the Month, June 2007

Pedunculate oak Quercus robur

(also called English oak)

The Botanic Gardens has an excellent collection of oak species, both evergreen and deciduous. The pedunculate oak in one of the two oaks native to Ireland (the other is Quercus petraea). Unfortunately the two species can hybridize so identification can be difficult. The oaks at the south end of the main field are Q. robur, having long stalks on the acorns and leaves with a very short leaf stalk. The male flowers are in a loosly constructed catkin (see photos below) and the female flowers are tiny (1-2mm) red flask-shaped structures that can be very hard to find.

	left and above newly expanding leaves in April
male	oak female flowers

Oaks form the dominant tree in natural Irish forests (and in most of western Europe) and have always had great economic value. Oak is the timber of choice for house building and boat building. Irish oak was exported in large amounts for every purpose from staves for barrels to the roof of Westminster Abbey

For information about Irish oaks see Flora Hibernica by JR Pilcher and VA Hall (Collins Press)