Quercus phellos

Willow oak (Quercus phellos ), leaves

Called The willow oak (Quercus phellos ), also Willowleaf oak, is a native to North America deciduous tree species from the genus of oaks. Its leaves are similar in shape to those of the pastures.

Description

The willow oak grows as a deciduous tree; in the southernmost part of its range it is almost - evergreen. It reaches heights of growth to about 30 meters, rarely more. It forms a dense, rounded canopy. The willow oak can reach trunk diameter of 1 to 1.5 meters, but also up to 2 meters. The bark is smooth and gray on young trees; at the age she is cracked; between the cracks becomes visible inner bark is light orange.

The branches are thin and at first olive-brown, reddish-brown later. The terminal buds are maroon. The change-constant leaves are oblong to lanceolate with wedge base and tapering to a point. At the blade tip sits a small, almost hair-thin bristle. The leaves are about 5 to 10 inches long, 2 inches wide and entire. The leaves are dull green on the upper side; under hand, they are initially pubescent. The petiole is about 2 to 4 mm long. The young leaf shoots is initially yellow with red center. The autumn color is pale yellow to brown yellow.

The willow oak is monoecious. The flowering season falls in the spring, about the same time as the leaves emerge. The male flowers are in slender, drooping yellow-green catkins. The female flowers are usually solitary, sometimes in pairs on a very short stalk. The acorns mature in two years. In the first year they are about 2 mm in size and spherical. The ripe, about 1 cm s acorns are brown and sitting in a shallow cup that covers the glans to almost a third. The overlapping scales, from which the cup is composed are, thin, hairy and dark red in color.

The willow oak is relatively fast growing with matching site conditions.

Distribution and location

The home of the willow oak is located in the southeastern United States. Their range consists of a western and an eastern part which are connected through a relatively narrow strip in Georgia to form a cohesive territory. The western district extends from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma on the south-eastern Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana east across Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, the southernmost tip of Illinois and southern Kentucky to Georgia. From here, the eastern part of the range runs in a northeasterly direction across South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia to Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and the District of Columbia.

Preferred locations of the willow oak are alluvial and flood plains, although waterlogged sites are avoided. The willow oak rather prefers acidic soils; their natural range extends over altitudes from 0 to 400 m.

While the willow oak is relatively frequently planted in North America as an ornamental tree and shade, it is rarely seen in Central Europe.

Use

The wood of the willow oak is used as timber or pulp.

Ecology

The acorns are many wild animals such as ducks, squirrels, deer, turkeys, blue jays and Melanerpes erythrocephalus (English " red-headed woodpecker" ) as a feed.

Pests and diseases

The willow oak is very fire sensitive. Even small fires kill seedlings. After forest fires, older trees have died, and the surviving specimens often languish until they die permanently by invading fungal diseases.

A common pest of willow oak is the Polypore Polyporus hispidus species.

Among the most important insect pests include bark beetles Enaphalodes rufulus (English " red oak borer " ), Prionoxystus robiniae (English " carpenterworm " ) and Goes pulverulentus (English " living- beech borer ").

System

The first description by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus was published in 1753.

There are no distinguished varieties within the species. The willow oak hybridizes with several other species of oak; Intersections with the following types are assigned:

  • Quercus coccinea (W. W. Ashe 1894)
  • Quercus ilicifolia: The hybrid is known as Quercus × giffordi Trelease.
  • Quercus incana (E. J. Palmer 1948)
  • Quercus marilandica
  • Quercus nigra
  • Quercus pagoda: The hybrid is as Q. × ludoviciana Sargent called.
  • Quercus palustris
  • Quercus rubra
  • Quercus shumardii
  • Quercus velutina

According to DM Hunt ( 1989) it hybridizes with the following additional types:

Rosids Fagales Broad-leaved tree Georgia (U.S. state) Lumber
667323
de