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An oak is a tree in the genus Quercus, which includes approximately 500 species of deciduous and evergreen oaks found across North America, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves with lobed or serrated margins. They are monoecious, producing male catkins and small female flowers in spring. The fruit is an acorn contained within a cup-like structure that takes 6-18 months to mature depending on the species. North America has the largest diversity of oak species with around 90 in the US and 160 total in Mexico.

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33 views

Sample Tree

An oak is a tree in the genus Quercus, which includes approximately 500 species of deciduous and evergreen oaks found across North America, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves with lobed or serrated margins. They are monoecious, producing male catkins and small female flowers in spring. The fruit is an acorn contained within a cup-like structure that takes 6-18 months to mature depending on the species. North America has the largest diversity of oak species with around 90 in the US and 160 total in Mexico.

Uploaded by

Daniel Deep
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus (/ˈkwɜːrkəs/;[1] Latin "oak tree")

of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks.
[2] The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera,
notably Lithocarpus (stone oaks), as well as in those of unrelated species such as
Grevillea robusta (silky oaks) and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). The genus Quercus
is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species
extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe,
and North Africa. North America contains the largest number of oak species, with
approximately 90 occurring in the United States, while Mexico has 160 species of
which 109 are endemic. The second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which
contains approximately 100 species.[3]
Solitary oak, the Netherlands
Oak: male flowers
The leaves of a young oak

Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobate margins in many species; some have
serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous species are
marcescent, not dropping dead leaves until spring. In spring, a single oak tree
produces both male flowers (in the form of catkins) and small female flowers,[4]
meaning that the trees are monoecious. The fruit is a nut called an acorn or oak
nut borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed
(rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on their species.
The acorns and leaves contain tannic acid,[5] which helps to guard from fungi and
insects.[6] The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not
actually a distinct group and instead are dispersed across the genus.
Contents
Subgenus Quercus

Sect. Quercus (synonyms Lepidobalanus and Leucobalanus), the white oaks of


Europe, Asia and North America. Styles are short; the acorns mature in 6 months and
taste sweet or slightly bitter; the inside of an acorn shell is hairless. The
leaves mostly lack a bristle on their lobe tips, which are usually rounded. The
type species is Quercus robur.
Sect. Protobalanus, the canyon live oak and its relatives, in the southwestern
United States and northwest Mexico. Styles are short; the acorns mature in 18
months and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. The
leaves typically have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip.
Sect. Ponticae, a disjunct including just two species. Styles are short and the
acorns mature in 12 months. The leaves have large stipules, high secondary
venation, and are highly toothed.
Sect. Virentes, the southern live oaks of the Americas. Styles are short and
the acorns mature in 12 months. The leaves are evergreen or subevergreen.
Sect. Lobatae (synonym Erythrobalanus), the red oaks of North America, Central
America and northern South America. Styles are long; the acorns mature in 18 months
and taste very bitter. The inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. The actual nut
is encased in a thin, clinging, papery skin. The leaves typically have sharp lobe
tips, with spiny bristles at the lobe.

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