Quercus cerris
| Quercus cerris | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 115' |
| Width: | 82' |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Blooms: | Late Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Quercus cerris (common name: turkey oak)
Propagation: Seed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees[1]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly.
Cultivation: Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side[2][1]. Grows well on chalk[3], even when the soil is shallow[4]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[5]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[5]. Grows well near the coast[3].
Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young[1].
A very ornamental tree[2], it grows very well in Britain and is the fastest growing of the oaks in cultivation in this country[2].
The seed ripens in its second year[5].
Trees transplant badly unless they are moved regularly[1].
Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[5].
This species is notably resistant to honey fungus[6][5].
Range: Europe to S.W. Asia. Naturalized in Britain[7].
Habitat: Hedges, thickets and woods in acid soils[7][8].
Edibility: Seed - cooked. Up to 2.5cm long. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread[9]. The seed contains bitter tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
A sweet fluid exudes from insect damage on the stems and solidifies[10][11][12][13]. This is edible and is sold as a manna in local markets in Iran[14]. It can be boiled down into a syrup and used for sweetening food[9].
Medicinal: Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[15].
Usage: The seed cups are used as buttons[16].
A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit the growth of young plants[17].
Oak galls are excrescences that are sometimes produced in great numbers on the tree and are caused by the activity of the larvae of different insects. The insects live inside these galls, obtaining their nutrient therein. When the insect pupates and leaves, the gall can be used as a rich source of tannin, that can also be used as a dyestuff[15].
The leaves, bark and wood are used commercially as a source of tannins[18].
Wood. It is valued by wheelwrights, turners and cabinet makers[15]. Of little value[2][1]. It does not weather well[8].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in medium and heavy soils.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Early Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Also Known As: Q. lanuginosa.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gordon, A and D Rowe. Seed Manual for Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 1982.
- ↑ Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ RHS. The Garden Volume 112. Royal Horticultural Society, 1987.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Polunin, Oleg. Flowers of Europe. Oxford University Press, 1969.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Saunders, Charles. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1976.
- ↑ Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes. Garden Way, 1978.
- ↑ Rottsieper, E. Vegetable Tannins. The Forestal Land, 1946.