Trees · Fagaceae
Sessile oak
Quercus petraea
Spanish Roble albarCatalan Roure de fulla granNative20–35 mDeciduous
A tall oak of damp mountains, with lobed leaves that are smooth beneath and have a long stalk.
- LeafBroad and flat
- LeafYes, a single blade
- ShapeLobed
- EdgeWavy or lobed
- On the twigOne at a time, staggered
- In winterNo, it loses them
- BarkFurrowed
- FruitAcorn
The leaf
Leaves 7 to 14 cm long, with regular rounded lobes and a long stalk, 1 to 2.5 cm. They are smooth or nearly so beneath, without the down of the downy oak.
The bark
Grey, smooth when young, then thick and split by long, deep fissures into elongated plates.
The fruit
Stalkless acorns 2 to 3 cm long, attached directly to the twig, often in clusters. The cup has fine, tight scales.
The flower
Hanging greenish-yellow catkins that come out at the same time as the new leaves.
- Jan
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Habit
A tall tree, 20 to 35 m, with a long, straight trunk and a broad, regular crown.
Where it grows
It grows in damp mountains on acid soils, in the Pyrenees, the Pre-Pyrenees and the Montseny, often with beech and sweet chestnut.
What it can be mistaken for
The downy oak has leaves that are hairy beneath, with hardly any stalk. The Portuguese oak has toothed leaves, not lobed ones. Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), rare in Catalonia, has almost stalkless leaves and acorns on long stalks, the other way round from the sessile oak.
A story
Its fine-grained wood is among the most prized for wine barrels. Many of the French oak barrels in wineries are made from this species.
Find out more
- Tree: Bob Harvey, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Leaf: T. C. Woodeggs, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Bark: Nefronus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit: Sten, CC BY-SA 3.0