Common Oak (Quercus Robur)
This large, deciduous and probably our commonest tree can grow to a height of 30-40m and live for 1000 years or more.
Identifying features: Bark is at first very smooth with a brownish tinge turning to silvery grey. Mature trees have small, dull grey plates separated by fine fissures with occasional burrs or sprouts.
The seeds or acorns were of considerable importance formerly for feeding pigs. At the end of the seventh century, special laws were made relating to the feeding of pigs in woods, known as pannage.
Druids revere the Oak above all other trees, believing it hosted the energy, power and strength of their Gods. Due to its size and longevity the oak was known as the "Garden in the Forest", for it attracts the growth of various forms of plant life.
Normally the trunk of the Oak is covered in fungus, particularly stinkhorn and lichen, which grow alongside tendrils of ivy, but just occasionally mistletoe will also grow on it.
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