QUERCUS 
75 
Pistillate catkins peduncled. Stigmas usually 4, large. 
This is not a hybrid, as it occurs in localities from which Q. robur is absent ; Cornwall, and western Galway, Ireland, 
and doubtless elsewhere. 
Q. sessiliflora is dominant in woods on siliceous soils in the west and north of the British Isles, 
as far north as Caithness-shire ; locally abundant in woods on sandy and gravelly soils in the south 
and east of England ; local in woods on limestone ; rare on chalk ; absent, as an indigenous tree, 
on deep marls and clays ; abundant in hedgerows ; dominant up to 300 m. in the West Riding of 
Yorkshire, but occurring up to nearly 400 m. From Cornwall and Kent northwards to Caithness- 
shire ; but it is local in eastern and central England and in Scotland north of the Caledonian Canal. 
Central and southern Scandinavia (to 6o° 1 1 '), western Europe, central Europe, Russia, Portugal, 
northern Spain, southern Europe (local), Balkan peninsula (up to 1400m.) to Greece; Orient, Cau- 
casus, Persia. 
Q. robur x sessiliflora (see page 76). 
4. QUERCUS ROBUR. Common Oak. Plates 76; 77 
Quercus vulgaris Gerard Herb. 1156 (1597); Q. latifolia Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 1385 (1636); Ray Syn. 
ed. 3, 440 (1724). 
/ 
Quercus robur L. Sp. PI. 996 (1753); Smith FI. Brit, iii, 1026 (1804); Moss in Journ. Bot. xlviii, 6 
(1910); Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 495 (1911); Q. femina Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 2 (1768); 
Q. pedmiculata Ehrhart Beitr. v, 161 (1790) nomen; Willdenow Sp. PI. iv, 450 (1805); Rouy Ft. France xii, 310 
(1910); Q. robur var. pedunculata Martyn FI. Rust. no. 10 (1792); Q. robur subsp. pedunculata Syme Eng. 
Bot. viii, 145 (1868). 
leones: — Martyn Ft. Rust. t. 10, as Q. robur var. pedunculata ; Smith Eng. Bot. t. 1342, as Q. robur ; 
Sv. Bot. t. 73, as Q. robur ; FI. Dan. t. 1180, as Q. foemina\ Reichenbach Icon. t. 648, fig. 1313, as Q. pedunculata ; 
Hartig Forst. Cidturpfl. t. 12, as Q. peduncidata. 
Canib. Brit. FI. ii. Plate j 6 . (a) Shoot in autumn. Herefordshire (A. L.). (b) Leaf, lower surface. 
(c) Shoot with catkins, (d) Perianth (enlarged), (e) Base of leaf, lower surface, (f) Ripe fruit. Huntingdon- 
shire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 2532 bis, as Q. pedunculata-, Wirtgen, xii, 713, as Q. pedunculata-. Herb. FI. Ingric. 
552 (partim), as Q. pedunculata. 
The specimen in the herbarium of Linnaeus named Q. robur is an American oak, probably Q. alba L. The specimen 
was sent to Linnaeus by Pehr Kalm who travelled and collected plants in many parts of the world, including North America. 
Tree, attaining a height of about 30 m., and, like Q. sessiliflora, living to a very great age. 
Root deep. Trunk usually splitting into branches lower than that of Q. sessiliflora. Young branches 
glabrous. Petioles usually much shorter than in Q. sessiliflora , and sometimes almost absent. 
Laminae very variable in shape, more or less elliptical, obtuse or cuneate at the base, with two 
reflexed auricles at the base, the auricles being very small in the cuneate-leaved forms, margin sinuate, 
apex obtuse, the larger nerves usually ending in the sinuses in the lower half of the lamina, 
glabrous on both surfaces at maturity, multiple or bifid hairs absent even on the young laminae. 
Catkins appearing with the leaves ; late April and early May. Pistillate catkins pedunculate, very 
rarely subsessile or sessile. Stigmas 3. Nut or achene elliptical or subcuneate, usually larger than in 
Q. sessiliflora ; early October. 
This species is often cited in botanical works, e.g., Rouy FI. France, as Q. pedunculata Ehrhart ; but this is a nomen 
nudum. Further, if the name Q. robur L. be rejected (though there is no reason why it should be), the next valid name is 
Q. femina Miller, as shown in the synonyms cited above. As, however, the name Q. robur L. Sp. PI. 996 (1753) does not 
include Q. sessiliflora or any other plant, it is not merely a valid name, but an unassailable one. 
Very common in the lowlands of the British Isles, as far north as Sutherlandshire, especially 
on clay ; dominant in lowland woods on deep fine sand and on clay ; more or less subdominant in 
ash-oak woods on marl and limestone ; occasional to rare in woods on wet river-alluvium and fens ; 
very rare on chalk and on shallow soils generally ; ascending to about 268 m. in Kent ; very 
common in hedgerows on clayey soils; commonly planted, up to nearly 335 m. on the Pennines, 
but not successful as a timber-tree at such altitudes. 
Europe, northwards to 62° 55' in Norway and ascending to 1250m. in the Alps; western and 
south-western Asia. 
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