Speaking of the other trees in the forest: there are also plenty of plants that feature the title “oak” in their common name but are not actually members of the Quercus genus. It can be hard to spot the details of the leaves from that distance, but Quercus leaves showcase distinct lobed, toothed, and entire margins that are usually easy to separate from other trees in the forest. Ī distinct feature of oak trees within ecosystems is often their height: they can grow up to 100 feet tall. Even today, oaks are associated with strength, wisdom, resistance, and morals. Clearly, these trees have been monarchs of the forest throughout time for many people.

The importance of the oak is indicated through Indo-European languages as it was at times used to refer to as “trees” in general. The word “oak” is ancient enough to have no certain origin but is found in Old English and Old Norse, both from Proto-German. While not definitive, the evolutionary record includes reports of Quercus fossils dating all the way back to the Late Cretaceous period: 100 million to 66 million years ago. Different species are evergreen or deciduous and range from temperate climate zones through tropical latitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Oak trees are indigenous to North America and Asia. IDENTIFY NEW PLANTS WITH PLANTSNAP Introduction Today we’ll be exploring different types of oak trees, detailing their botanical names, growing preferences, and other distinguishing tidbits. With over 500 living species, interesting facts and relationships are as abundant as the squirrel-forgot acorns beneath the ground. However, some species will produce copious amounts of the mast if the developmental age of the tree is favorable, regardless of conditions.Īcorn production can vary by species and individual trees across the oak family, but masting is a way this important group of trees can continue to be a part or our Midwestern landscape.Oak trees are beloved and well-recognized trees around the globe.

This surplus seed is available produce the next generation of oak seedlings. Populations of wildlife that depend on acorns may eat most of the seed during normal seed crops, but may not be able to utilize all the seed produced during a masting. This irregular cycle of large crops can be beneficial for the oaks by overwhelming the seed eaters. It may take a very large acorn crop to have many acorns escape from the numerous species that depend on acorns for food. Third, predation by seed-eaters like squirrels, deer, turkey and even weevil larvae can greatly reduce the number of viable acorns. Late spring freezes, extremely high temperatures, summer droughts and other weather stresses can reduce acorn pollination and production. Unfavorable weather during pollination and seed development periods can result in reduced production of acorns. Second, weather does not always cooperate to provide the conditions for a bumper acorn crop. This may mean there are advantages for the tree to produce occasional, rather than annual, mastings. Trees allocate energy to several different functions, so committing large amounts of energy to one area could mean deficits in others. This level of production may not be possible for the tree every year. Why does this irregular seed production happen? These events may be tied to several aspects of the life of oaks.įirst, the production of a huge volume of a large seed like an acorn requires a lot of resources from the tree. Masting events may be preceded and followed by small or moderate acorn crops, or complete crop failures in some cases. In the case of many oak species, a large mast event may happen every two to five years, depending on the species of oak and several other factors. This is called “masting” or “mast events”. Oaks and several other tree species occasionally produce enormous crops of seed. If you have ever noticed acorns so numerous that you could not take a step without crushing several, you may be asking the question, “why are there so many acorns?” Some answers to this question can be found in the physiology and ecology of trees and their relationship to wildlife.

Small acorn tree