Quercus – from classical Latin name for oak trees
Leaves:
- alternate
- simple
- pinnately veined
- leaves w/ petioles
- ~serrate, dentate
- ~deciduous, pinnately lobed
- ~evergreen, spines on margin and/or tip
Flowers:
- monoecious
- male flowers in slender pendulous catkins
- 6 stamens surrounded by tufts of hairs
- female on short stalks, 1 per cupule (sepal cup w/ 3 styles) subtended by an involucre of bracts
Fruit:
- acorn in “cup”
- cup either smooth, scaly, or w/ soft spines (involucre – collection of bracts)
Other notes:
- Oaks were considered sacred to Thor, the Norse god of thunder (sound created by the impact of his hammer)
- some say that carrying an acorn, a symbol of youth, preserved a youthful appearance
- deciduous or evergreen
- trees or shrubs up to 100 ft.
- rounded buds
- wind pollinated
- very important timber trees
- divided into black or red oaks (leaves with “bristle tips” on apex or lobes) or white (lobes rounded)
- red and white oak terms refer to wood color