For most people, the word “oak” conjures up a picture of a huge and very old tree. It has long been considered a symbol of power and longevity. The most famous plants are above 40 meters, with a trunk diameter of more than two meters. Stone oak is fully consistent with the idea of these powerful samples of the Earth's flora: grows up to 30 meters and lives for more than a thousand years.
Description
This evergreen tree belongs to the beech family, which has more than 600 species. Characteristics of stone oak:
- Height can reach 30 meters. Having reached such a mark by about 80-100 years, the plant stops its growth upwards and begins to be distributed in width. Moreover, this growth does not stop throughout life. The girth of individual species may be 7–9 meters.
- Homeland is a region of the Mediterranean. It grows in areas of southern Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, the Caucasus (up to 1200 meters above sea level), in the Crimea. It is able to withstand frosts to -20 0 C. Favorite places are dry, sunny, rocky slopes, undemanding to soils.
- Wood. It is characterized as solid, heavy, strong, dense specific gravity of 1.14. Properties depend on the place of growth: on dry soil - slightly elastic, straw yellow, hard, small layer; in humid areas (river banks, lowlands of marshy places) - elastic, heavy, with a pale pink tint, coarse, cracking very much upon drying; on transitional soil (not too dry and not too wet) - fairly elastic, yellowish in color, slightly harder in hardness than previous samples.
- Root system. Very powerful, with a deep rod root. In some cases, when there are deposits of hard rocks (for example, limestone) under waterlogged soil, the root system can be located in the upper layer of the earth or superficially.
- Bark. Dark gray in color, the young stone oak is smooth. Scale forms with age. It is covered with sinuous transverse and longitudinal deep cracks.
- Leaves. In shape (depending on the place of growth) can be oval, elliptical, narrow oval. The structure is dense, leathery. The leaf plate above is bare and shiny, dark green, densely pubescent below, white-gray. The edges are either solid or with a few sharp teeth. The length is from 2.5 to 7.5 cm, the width is from 1 to 4 cm.
- Flowers. Flowering begins in the spring, after the appearance of the first leaves. On one tree there are both male and female flowers. Both species are collected in earrings, only male ones are pale pink, and female ones are small, greenish, a raspberry shade is visible at the edges. Ripened pollen released from earrings is viable for no more than five days.
- Fruit. An acorn carries one big seed. It is protected by a rigid pericarp. “Sits” in a cup-shaped bun (a kind of bed of fused leaves), initially it surrounds the seed for a third or half, and as it grows, it lowers to its base. Edible, they make flour.
Growing
Propagation of the plant occurs by acorns. Due to the fact that they quickly lose their germination, acorns of the same year are chosen for sowing. Acorns can be planted in autumn and spring. Autumn sowing is simple, but there is a risk of damage by rodents and freezing during cold winters.
Spring sowing will be effective only with proper storage of acorns. For this, a dry basement with a temperature of about 0 ° C is well suited. They are collected in dry weather, pre-dried at room temperature for a week and only then stored. Only healthy acorns are taken, without visible external damage.
It is possible to sow on a bed, the distance between acorns is 7-10 cm, between beds - 15-25 cm, when growing annual plants with subsequent transplantation to a permanent place. Departure depth is 2-3 cm, in the autumn a little deeper - by 3-6 cm. The ground over the seeds is leveled. This is the first step in growing stone oaks.
Seedling care is simple:
- monitoring the state of the soil, do not let it dry out;
- weed removal;
- a month and a half before mass leaf fall in a particular area, watering is stopped, this allows seedlings to better prepare and move the winter.
Usually, seedlings grow for two years before transplanting to the main place. But if you transplant a two-year-old tree, you can damage the root, by this time it reaches a meter. In order to avoid serious injuries, in the early spring of the “year-olds” they are transplanted to the “school”. Before planting, the root is cut at a distance of 15-20 cm from the acorn and placed in rows (between rows - 30 cm) at a distance of 15 cm. If annual oak trees are transplanted immediately to a permanent place, then the root is not cut.
Using
Stone oak is used in various fields of human activity:
- in construction;
- in furniture production;
- in the food industry (in oak barrels, various drinks are aged for years);
- in the production of musical instruments;
- in folk crafts.
Oaks are often used for landscaping cities. In Italy, oak groves give a wonderful harvest of sweet edible acorns. A curious property of trees is the fact that the root system is associated with valuable mushrooms - truffles.
Useful qualities
Stone oak is also valued for its healing qualities. The bark has an astringent, wound healing and anti-inflammatory effect. Tinctures, ointments and decoctions are used:
- with angina;
- allergic reactions;
- burns;
- skin diseases;
- gastritis, diseases of the intestinal tract;
- poisoning;
- stomatitis;
- wound healing;
- frostbite.
Bonsai tree
Stone oak (photos are presented in the article) is also used for decorative purposes, growing dwarf trees. This art came from Japan. Buddhists believe that a person who has managed to grow a bonsai can be equated with God. A correctly grown oak tree has a massive trunk and a branchy, open crown of irregular shape. Such a masterpiece can become an adornment of any interior.