Flowering Trees & Shrubs Codexery

Quercus robur

A long-lived oak supporting high biodiversity across Europe and Asia.

Last updated

Quercus robur is a deciduous tree that can reach up to 30 meters in height according to Forestry England.[1] Across most of Europe and into western Asia, this tree occurs naturally, and people have planted it widely in other regions with temperate climates.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. CladeTracheophytes
  2. CladeAngiosperms
  3. CladeEudicots
  4. CladeRosids
  5. OrderFagales
  6. FamilyFagaceae
  7. GenusQuercus
  8. GenusQuercus
  9. SpeciesQuercus robur

Named by L.

Close relatives

Other species of Quercus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Quercus robur (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2017

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

Where the quercus robur has been recorded

Where the quercus robur has been recorded20 mapped locations from 1,708,704 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Southwest FinlandSouthwest Finland

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (1,708,704 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 317 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 1 isolated far-off record not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Flowering takes place in spring, and the flowers are wind-pollinated.[3] It is sometimes found on the margins of swamps, rivers and ponds, showing tolerance of intermittent flooding.[4] In 2019 it was estimated that 2,300 species are associated with Q. robur in the UK.[5] The tree's outer covering is a greyish-brown bark marked by tight, vertical grooves and plates.[6]

Slender catkins, 2–4 cm long, carry the tree's male flowers.[3] Female flowers are tiny, roughly 2 mm across, brown in color with dark red stigmas.[3] The tree produces acorns in groups of two or three, each group attached to a long stalk (peduncle) that is 4–8 cm in length.[7]

What the specialist sources record

The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy lists Quercus robur L. as an accepted species in the family Fagaceae.[8] GBIF holds 1,730,346 occurrence records for this taxon as of 15 October 2026.[8] According to the Royal Horticultural Society, this species is assigned hardiness rating H6, meaning it withstands winter temperatures down to -20°C and is hardy throughout the UK and northern Europe.[9] A 1746 law in Finland declared that every oak tree was the property of the crown.[10]

The Southwest Finland region has adopted the oak as its official regional tree.[10]

References

  1. "English oak", Forestry England. facts only, no text reused. forestryengland.uk
  2. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Quercus robur L."; Mitchell, "A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe", Collins, 1974 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitchell, "A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe", Collins, 1974; "Oak tree flowers - Tree Guide UK" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Preston, "New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora", Oxford University Press, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitchell, "OakEcol: A database of Oak-associated biodiversity within the UK", Data in Brief, 2019; Kennedy, "The number of species associated with British Trees: a re-analysis", Journal of Animal Ecology, 1984, p. 459 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "English oak", Forestry England (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitchell, "A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe", Collins, 1974; Crawley, "The Flora of Berkshire", Brambleby Books, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Quercus robur (taxon key 2878688). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  9. Royal Horticultural Society, "Quercus robur L.". facts only, no text reused. rhs.org.uk
  10. Wikipedia, "Quercus robur" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pipolan tammimetsikkö", aikamatkakarjalohjalla.fi, 2019; "Tammi", Luontoportti (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Quercus robur (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Oak

More in Flowering Trees & Shrubs

Quercus rubraQuercus suberQuercus velutinaQuercus virginianaPolylepisMagnoliaMagnoliaceaeMagnoliidsNothofagusNothofagus fuscaNothofagus menziesiiPopulus

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →