Common Oak (lat. "Quercus robur ") represents the genus Oaks of the Bukov family. He is leafy oak, summer, English. The birthplace of the tree is the forests of southern Russia, eastern Europe.
What does a leafy oak look like?
Ordinary oak - deciduous tree, its height reaches 50 meters, trunk grasp - up to 2 meters. It grows up to an average of 200 years, then the rest of the life expands. On this basis, you can determine how old the tree is. The life expectancy of individual individuals is up to 500, or even more years.
The oldest representative of the species grows in Lithuania near the village of Stemluž. Scientists were able to determine the approximate age of the long-liver - about 2000 years, in historical documents there is a description of it. Stemluzhsky oak still blooms and periodically bears fruit.
The root system of the oak has a main core, which goes deep into the ground, due to which the tree receives reliable support and high vitality. Over time, lateral root processes of the first, second, third, etc. are formed and develop. order, the system takes on a spherical shape. The longest stem of an adult tree can be located 20 meters from the surface of the earth and deeper.
The young plant has an even light gray bark with a smooth surface, with age it darkens and thickens up to 10 cm by the end of the life of the oak, covered with deep cracks.
The crown of the pyramidal structure is wide, spreading. A tree with strong branches growing alternately on a powerful trunk.
Everyone knows what an oak leaf looks like in Russia and in the world: lobed with a characteristic serrated-rounded edge of a simple shape. Veins slightly protrude from the main plane.
The fruits of oak are acorns. They ripen by mid-autumn in September and October. They have a rounded elongated shape, brown-brown, sometimes yellowish in color. The fruit is recessed into a flat cup on a short stalk.
The buds are brown scaly, ovoid with a pointed tip. The scales have a ciliary edge.
Oak fruits are tied in the spring with the arrival of heat in April-May. Flowering takes place at the same time when the leaves bloom. Flowers are heterosexual:
- Female reddish shade on a short leg;
- Men's look like yellow-green hanging earrings.
There are 2 types of wood: early and late. An early species blooms leaves in April-May, throws them off in the middle autumn until October. Flowering occurs at the same time. The late representative activates 2-3 weeks later than the fellow, often leaves remain on branches throughout the winter, fall in the spring with swelling of new buds. Their appearance is practically no different.
Fruits ordinary oak every 4-5 years after reaching the age of over 50 years.
Spread
The plant does not like frost, therefore, in the northern latitudes almost never occurs. It forms forests in the middle and southern regions of Russia from the Urals to the Caucasus, where its homeland is located. In vivo grows in Western Europe, Western Asia and Africa.
A person spreads the species in different parts of the Earth, but in unusual climatic conditions, the tree develops worse: the trunk stretches slowly, does not exceed 20 meters in height, bears fruit unstably, often oak wood is not of high quality. From the oaks create interesting park compositions, decorate alleys and populate forest belts.
Under normal conditions, the common breed grows in river valleys, forms mixed forests. The breed adjoins favorably with representatives of coniferous and deciduous: with pine, spruce, hornbeam, birch, beech, ash, maple.
Often there are separate individuals.
Climate and soil
The family loves a temperate climate: normal humidity, average temperatures. Mixed forests of Russia - the optimal habitat for oak.
A comfortable life requires soils rich in minerals and organic fertilizers. Wet and deep gray loams of forests are optimal for tree development. In such areas, the life span of the oak tree is maximum, the trunk is actively growing and remains alive for a long time.
Useful composition of wood and fruits
Oak wood and leaves are a storehouse of various trace elements used by humans in various fields of medicine and industry:
- Up to 20% of wood and leaves are tannins; they are used in medicine and the leather industry.
- Gallic and Egallic organic acids;
- Carbohydrates and sugars, in particular pentosans (up to 14%);
- Flavonoids;
- Trace elements (in descending order): K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Mg, Cu, Zn, Al, Cr, Ba, V, Se, Ni, Sr, Pb, B, Ca, Se, Sr.
Acorns as fruits for reproduction also have a number of useful and vital substances for the development of:
- Starches;
- Squirrels;
- Carbohydrates (sugar);
- Saturated oils up to 5% of the total.
Interesting features of wood
Oak forests serve as a source of unique wood, widely used in various industries in view of unique beneficial properties:
- Elasticity.
- High strength and density;
- High bending strength (95 MPa), compression (50 MPa), tensile (118 MPa);
- The treated barrel retains its technical characteristics in high humidity and under water;
- Low coefficient of drying without cracking;
- It is well kept in the air;
- The service life of structures and products reaches 100 years with proper care.
Tree use
A person uses all parts of the apple tree - leaves, trunk, acorns, buds. Each material has found application in different sectors of our lives.
Building
The oak trunk is a source of strong wood, which is used for the manufacture of building structures and products:
- Massive board;
- Parquet;
- Boards for cladding walls and ceilings;
- Elements of window frames;
- Doors
The material is durable, abrasion resistant, hardness. The age of oak directly affects the quality of raw materials: the older the plant, the stronger and more valuable the wood. Its color is uniform, interesting texture and cut pattern look attractive and calm. Due to this quality, the material has found application in the furniture industry and the creation of interior items.
Industry
The use of ordinary oak wood is widespread in the manufacture of components for:
- Shipbuilding;
- Mining industry;
- Hydraulic structures;
- Production of barrels for winemaking;
- Horse harnesses, carts, wheels, etc.
The trunk of an adult plant serves as a raw material for effective fuel.
Leaves and acorns
When flowering begins, bees pollinate trees, collect pollen and nectar, from which valuable honey is obtained.
The leaves contain the natural dye quercetin, which is used to dye woolen fabrics and products in black, brown, green and yellow.
Acorns from the forest serve as food for wild boars and domestic pigs. The high nutritional value of fruits is also suitable for humans: mature material is dried, ground into flour and used for baking. And acorns processed in a special way are added to ground chicory - a healthy drink is obtained that replaces coffee.
Leaves on young branches brought from an oak forest are tied into brooms that will argue with birch trees - they are just as good in a bathhouse.
Medicine
Scientific information about the beneficial substances and healing properties of the tree allows the use of the material as an independent or accompanying treatment of many diseases of various kinds.
Description of tannins as an astringent and anti-inflammatory agent has been around for centuries. Active components are contained in the cortex. Drugs are prescribed for pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract and food poisoning, for problems of the bladder, kidneys.
Topically apply a decoction of bark and leaves. The tannins in their composition help when there is a violation of the skin: wounds, abrasions, cuts, eczema, ulcers. In addition, decoctions and infusions are prescribed for gargling and pharynx with ARVI, tonsillitis.
Prescribing concomitant herbal medicine, the doctor takes into account the features of the main treatment, the course of the disease and the condition of the body. Combining factors, the specialist determines how much time and in what form to use natural remedies. Self-treatment can only be preventative in nature.
When to collect material
In the process of life and growth of the tree, the trunk gains greater strength and density, and the material is valuable, therefore, individuals that are suitable in size are selected for cutting.
The bark is harvested in a month of sap flow, usually in April-May. It is dried in the open air, avoiding waterlogging.
Acorns for planting are harvested in the fall, when the fruits reach their maturity. They are placed in artificial hibernation in a refrigerator or cellar until spring, after which they are germinated and determined in the ground. You can collect in the first or second month of spring, when the snow has just melted, and the acorn did not have time to take root.
Interesting facts about oak
It would seem that the tree is like a tree, but the species of the oak family is not so simple. Some interesting facts from the life of a stately plant.
- The breed is so diverse that around the world there are about 600 representatives of the oak fraternity. Many of them are similar to each other and only advanced biologists distinguish them.
- 80 years is a serious period, especially for human life. And the eightieth anniversary of marriage is called an “oak” wedding.
- You can determine how old the oak is in two ways: count the number of rings on the trunk cut or measure the trunk in girth in centimeters, derive the radius according to the formula (circle / 2π) / 2. New rings appear every year, expanding by 2-3 mm, on this basis, divide the resulting radius by 2-3 mm.
- Oak coal has a significant burning time, but combustible material does not hold heat well, and powerful traction is required to maintain the process.
- Expensive building and finishing material - stained oak. Wood artificially or naturally enters the water for a long time (up to 100 years), there is a significant increase in the strength of raw materials and the acquisition of black color.
- For propagation, the plant in most cases uses small acorns, and not root shoots.
- Oak forests create optimal conditions for the life of many representatives of flora and fauna.
- Interesting oak sounds can be heard: musician Bartolomaus Traubek created a kind of record using nano-technology.
- Forests with oaks have healing powers. There is evidence that leaves and bark secrete special volatile, relieve headaches and soothe the nervous system.
- The breed has high electrical conductivity - lightning gets into oaks more often than other trees.
- The lifespan of oak products can be several thousand years: in the English county of Norfolk, a monument of the Bronze Age Sihenge, created in the XXI century. BC.