Common Oak

Quercus robur

Description
Although the term ‘Oak’ may be ascribed to other botanical genera, it is most commonly referred to those trees within the genus Quercus of which there are several hundred species, including both evergreen and deciduous forms. In the UK, the term ‘Common’ Oak is used to refer to two distinct species, also known as Pedunculate Oak (Q. robur) and Sessile Oak (Q. petraea).  The Pedunculate Oak is that most frequently found in the New Forest and detailed below.

The Common (Pedunculate) Oak in the New Forest is possibly the largest, longest lived and most easily identified of our native trees having readily distinguished leaves and seeds (acorns) and roughly fissured bark covering the trunks of mature specimens.  The Common Oak can grow to over 30m tall and may live to be 1000 years old, but such long lived trees are rare and result from continued pruning over the centuries.  Oak trees that grow without any management are still relatively long lived, typically reaching maturity at about 200 years.

The Common Oak responds well to injury and will usually produce a profusion of new shoots from cut or broken branch stumps.  Man has taken advantage of this by regularly cutting all the branches back to the top of the trunk (known as pollarding) to provide a regular supply of small timber for a variety of uses, especially for building.  Over time, pollarding results in tree trunks with a very large circumference but short height.  In addition, the life span of such trees is significantly increased. This is why the oldest oaks have a squat wide-spreading overall appearance.

In spring the oaks are one of the earliest trees to come into flower but the catkins produced are inconspicuous to the casual observer, being a dull brownish green colour. These catkins in turn grow into the well known acorn, supported in a small cup, growing at the end of a stalk which is known as a peduncle, hence the alternative name, Pedunculate Oak.

Situation
The Common Oak is well named as it is frequently found throughout the New Forest, growing as an individual in field and hedgerow or as the dominant woodland species. The Knightwood Oak is probably the most well known oak in the New Forest. It is an old pollard tree growing in the Knightwood Inclosure near the Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive, north of the A35.

Seasons/Life cycle

Uses
Oak has been used on just about every aspect of building and tool making over the centuries and can be found as both supporting and decorative timbers and tin cathedrals, barns and houses as well as famously in ships such as HMS Victory.