Scientific name: Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.
Common name: Sessile Oak
Description
Habit: A woody, deciduous tree, to 40 m high; less spreading, taller and straighter than Q. robur.
Leaves: Alternate, oblong, pinnately lobed with 5-6 obtuse lobes on each side, hairy underside when young, with persistent tufts of hairs at the base of lateral veins; leaf stalk 12 mm long.
Flowers: Inconspicuous, actinomorphic; male flowers in pendent catkins, each with 4-12 stamens; female flowers 1-few in stiff stalkless clusters, surrounded by bracts.
Fruits: An acorn, 2-4 together, stalkless or very short-stalked, surrounded by fused scales.
Twigs: Dark grey.
Bark: Grey, with vertical cracks, fissures and ridges.
Habitat: Woods, scrub and rocky ground. Distribution: Very rare on limestone, frequent elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No