Quercus stellata
| Quercus stellata | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 66' |
| Speed: | Slow |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring-Late Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Quercus stellata (common name: post 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]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[3]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[3].
Prefers warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, trees often grow poorly in this country and fail to properly ripen their wood resulting in frost damage overwinter[3].
A slow-growing drought resistant tree, it takes 20 - 30 years before it produces seed[4]. It then usually produces a good crop of seeds every 2 - 4 years[4]. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[3][4].
Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young[1].
Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[3].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[3].
Range: South-eastern N. America - Massachusetts to New York, Iowa, Florida and Texas.
Habitat: Rocky or sandy ridges and outcrops, also in dry woodlands in a variety of soils including gravelly, sandy, poor upland soils and heavy moist loamy soils, where it reaches its greatest height[4].
Edibility: Seed - raw or cooked[5][6][7]. A sweet taste[8]. The seed is up to 25mm long and 18mm wide[9][3], it can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed from some trees might contain 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[10][11].
Medicinal: The bark is astringent, disinfectant, emetic, febrifuge and tonic[11]. An infusion is used in the treatment of chronic dysentery, indigestion, asthma, lost voice and intermittent fevers[11]. The bark can be chewed to treat mouth sores[11]. An infusion of the bark can be used as a wash on sore and chapped skin[11].
Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[12].
Usage: A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth[13].
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[12].
Wood - very heavy, hard, close grained, very durable in contact with the soil but difficult to cure. It weighs about 52lb per cubic foot. It is largely used for fencing, lumber, furniture and fuel[14][5][9][15][8][16][17].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in medium and heavy soils.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Mid Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Also Known As: Q. minor. Q. obtusiloba.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Elias, Thomas. The Complete Trees of North America. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1980.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Howes, Frank. Nuts. Faber, 1948.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 McPherson, Alan and Sue McPherson. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press, 1977.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Sargent, Charles. Manual of the Trees of North America. Dover, 1965.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes. Garden Way, 1978.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Vines, Robert. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press, 1987.
- ↑ Hill, Albert. Economic Botany. The Maple Press, 1952.
- ↑ Vines, Robert. Trees of North Texas. University of Texas Press, 1982.