Quercus petraea
Durmast Oak, Irish Oak, Welsh Oak, French Oak
Fagaceae
May to June
It is found throughout the country except for parts of the
South, eastern England and East Anglia.
See the BSBI distribution map for Sessile Oak
It grows in forests and coppiced woodland and has a
preference for drier, shallower and more acid soils than
Sessile Oak is a native, long-lived, common, deciduous tree
growing up to 42m.
Male catkins appear at the same time as the leaves.
Female flowers form at the end of twigs in the axils of
leaves.
Female flowers are small with deep red 3-lobed stigmas.
They either have no stems (sessile) or short stems
of less than 2cm – hence the name sessile.
Female flowers of Pedunculate Oak have much longer
stems.
The acorns are clustered and sessile.
The leaves have distinct petioles (Pedunculate Oak
has no petiole) and the lower part of the leaf tapers into
the petiole.
The underside of the leaf has white hairs on the veins.
It has a straighter trunk and is less spreading than
The trunk is fissured but less gnarled than in
Hybridisation between Pedunculate and Sessile
Oaks can make identification difficult.
Quercus petraea is the main component of French
Oak which is used to make barrels for the aging of
French wines.
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