Quercus petrea
Sessile Oak Tree
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Common Name: Sessile oak, durmast oak
Latin Name: Quercus petraea
Soil: Deep, well drained. Acid, alkaline or neutral.
Position: Full sun to part shade.
Flowering period/colour: Spring, inconspicuous yellow catkins.
Hardiness: Hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20°C).
Height and spread in 20-50 years: 12m/8m
Special features: Statuesque specimen tree, very long lived. Attractive, lobed green leaves and acorns. Orange-brown autumn colour.
Quercus petraea is a fine species of oak tree that is ideal as a specimen tree in large parks and gardens.
Quercus petraea is known as the Sessile oak because the acorns are borne directly on the twigs (sessile means attached directly at the base), rather than on small stalks (peduncles) as in the pedunculate oak.
The Sessile oak is very long lived, and after 300 or so years, can grow to as much as 40m tall with a trunk that is 3m in girth. It forms a broad, spreading crown and the leaves are dark green and lobed. The leaves fall in winter so that this species makes an ideal planting combination with winter and early spring flowering species like wood anemones, snowdrops, bluebells and crocuses. This species is monoecious, with separate male catkins and female flowers on the same tree.
Quercus petraea is the national tree of Ireland and a fine example can be seen at Baronscourt Estate, Co Tyrone. This particular example of the tree is more than 24m tall with a circumference of more than 8m. It is well worth visiting the estate to fully appreciate the majesty of this fine tree species.