Wildlife
Oak trees provide habitats of great biodiversity and are particularly rich in insects, spiders and fungi. They grow relatively slowly, but are very long-lived, with some specimens surviving for over 1,000 years. There are around 600 species of oak tree, some evergreen and some deciduous, native to the northern hemisphere and widely distributed in woodland and countryside. The leaves of oak trees are arranged spirally, often with lobed or serrated edges. Flowers, called catkins, are produced in spring and the acorn nuts in autumn. Oak wood has been heavily used by humans because of its great strength and durability.
Scientific name: Quercus
Rank: Genus
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Ancient oaks
Britain's thousand year old oaks are among Europes oldest and teem with life.
Britain's thousand year old oaks are among Europes oldest and teem with life.
Millennium oak mini-epic
From one acorn comes an amazing tale of ambition and survival
From one acorn comes an amazing tale of ambition and survival
The Oaks can be found in a number of locations including: Himalayas, North America, United Kingdom, Wales, Ynys-hir nature reserve. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
English oakThe following habitats are found across the Oaks distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
FloweringAdditional data source: Animal Diversity Web
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus ( /ˈkwɜrkəs/;Latin "oak tree"), of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus. The genus is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in Asia and the Americas.
Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with a lobed margin in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with a smooth margin. Many deciduous species are marcescent, not dropping dead leaves until spring. The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species. The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not actually a distinct group and instead are dispersed across the genus.
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Oak wood
Farmland
Beech wood
Parkland
Broadleaf forest
Urban