Summer oak, or, as it is commonly called, English is a typical representative of the beech family: a large tree reaching a 40 metro height, capable of forming whole broadleaved forests, called oak.
And this type of oak received its name “cherry” for fairly long stalks by which this tree can be distinguished without any other.
Description
A strongly branching plant of large forms, English oak has a huge crown and very powerful stem system. This longliver among trees the age of some wellknown specimens reaches up to two thousand years, although the average life expectancy of a tree is several hundred years.
Somewhere at the age of about two hundred years, the tree stops to grow in height (reaching a size of about 40 meters) and actively increases the increase in width. The oldest and most impressive (according to probable calculations) can be considered oak, called Stlamuzhsky (grows in Lithuania), whose age is approximately about 2 thousand years, and the trunk circumference has 13 meters.
The supply of wood in this plant is quite large it is almost 600 cubic meters in oak.m. on the hectare.
Appearance and structure
The oak is striking in its size-it differs in a wide-pyramidal and very branched crown, but most of all the attention in this tree is attracted by a thick and impressive barrel (usually about 1.5 m in diameter). After 30 years of life, the plant is covered with deep cracks if the tree has grown free, then its bark is up to 10 cm thick.
To maintain such large sizes, a powerful root system is required: it consists of a long rod root in an oak, and from the tenth year of life, powerful lateral roots begin to develop, which go deep enough into the soil.
Such powerful support allows the tree to use the fully significant volume of the soil, and also gives strength to combat wind.
Oak can be safely called one of the main forestforming rocks of any broadleaved forest in Europe and European forest stack. Usually he is easily adjacent to the hunch, linden, elm, ash, spruce, birch and many other trees.
Experts know that this is a thermophilic species of trees therefore it is almost impossible to meet it far in the north or high in the mountains. Can easily suffer from late frosts.
Seeds and leaves
Oak leaves have an oblong-shaped-shaped shape, quite massive (up to 15 cm in length) and differ in six pairs of blades (usually).
This tree begins to bloom late at the age of about fifty years, usually in late spring, and has separately hollow flowers. Male flowers form hanging small earrings growing from the sinuses of the kidneys, and female are collected in large inflorescences (up to 12 flowers). The fruit of the oak is a small ventricle (up to three centimeters), ripening in the first months of autumn.
Planting and care
There are several forms of English oak:
Oak feels well on fertile soil, which does not differ in a high level of acidity. The plant itself loves the sun and for an oak, it is necessary to choose sunny glades and places. But do not plant it in open spaces this tree prefers to avoid low temperatures and winds.
When landing, it must be borne in mind that the oak does not grow very quickly in the early period therefore, to protect it, it is better to surround it with other plants or shrubs. The tree needs regular watering and weeding at the beginning of its growth.
Pests and illnesses
Oak, like any other plant, is subject to pests and diseases:
Territory of growth
Oak was widespread in Europe and our country however, it can be found without problems in northern Africa and even in Asia. The northern habitat of this plant passes in Finland, and as it moves in the east direction, it moves south. Moreover, in Siberia, at the moment, in a natural habitat, this type of oak cannot be found. In the east, its habitat is the watershed of the Volga and the Urals. This plant is quite successfully introduced in North America.
In the taiga, this tree is usually found in river valleys, but south willingly forms oak forests as well as oak trees with an admixture of other trees. In the steppe zone, it can be found in ravines and beams.
Interesting Facts
As a rule, the lifespan of the oak is quite impressive about four hundred years. But sometimes serious longlivers are also found this species is entered in the Red Book and marked by the status of LC, which means that it is currently under the smallest threat.
Among representatives of this species there are many plants that have received their own names and have their own history. This is the oak of Kaiser, and the king-fool, and oak-watch, and Tamma Lauri, and oak major from the famous Sherwood forest. Such trees lived a long life for example, the Grunwald oak in the Kaliningrad region, has been living for more than 8 hundred years. But the wellknown attraction of Bulgaria the border oak has almost two thousand years.
This tree is characterized by an extensive sphere of use and application it is actively used to use it in flightimproving dilution, and in antierosion and forestgrade purposes, and in construction (in t.h. and green), and in the landscape design of parks and other forms.
Other properties of ordinary oak are widely known, among which the following can be highlighted:
Many parts of this tree are used for medical purposes and homeopathy the oak from ancient times is known for its antiinflammatory and astringent properties, sedative and hemostatic capabilities.
Decoctions and various tinctures on parts of oak are usually used for various diseases: colic, peptic ulcer, diarrhea, bleeding, varicose veins and many others. Oak bark is often used as a means of hemorrhoids, incontinence, eczema, in cases of frostbite or burns. It is impossible to do without such tincture and with bleeding gums or the presence of an unpleasant odor from the oral cavity. And to strengthen immunity, traditional medicine recommends using baths with mandatory inclusion of oak extract.
Duba wood is recognized by many excellent source of the best tannins for this it is customary to use the bark of very young trees in industry not older than 20 years. As a rule, in the tanning industry, the bark is used as a tanning material (it gives an amazing effect), but tannins are usually extracted from oak wood.
As a rule, for these purposes it is customary to use woodworking waste their number in ordinary cases is at least 20 percent.
And, since the oak boasts more than a significant mass of wood, it is this tree that is the main (if not the main) source in the production of tannides.
It is precisely the wood of an ordinary oak that is customary to use in construction in the quality of both a decorative and phytoncid, if it is necessary to create a natural landscape, alleys, parks, suburban zones and other territories. To this end, a wide variety of decorative forms of oak were derived including with a pyramidal crown, the foliage of which can stay almost a month longer than that of an ordinary plant.
