Wander Lord

Interesting on art, nature, people, history

Oak – great tree

Oak – great tree

Oak – great tree

Oaks are trees and shrubs of the beech family. There are about 450 species of oak. They are common in places with mild weather. Oak trees can grow to 45 meters high. Their leaves can have rounded, rough, or smooth edges. The fruit of an oak tree is the acorn – a round nut in a woody cup. The buds are usually in clusters, often with several about the same size, resulting in the numbers of large irregular branches that give most oaks their characteristic rugged crowns. The male flowers develop in the form of drooping catkins, with fewer females, on short stalks, erect above the males.
The roots are quite extensive, reaching out at least three times the height of the tree and down as deep as 4.6-12.2 m.
There are both evergreen (they have no synchronous leaf loss) and deciduous species.

The English oak is the largest of the oak trees. Some oaks in England are more than 800 years old.
The tallest oak is a black oak found in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
The white oak is common in the United States. In autumn the leaves turn deep violet and fall just before new leaves appear. The wood is light brown or yellow and the bark is scaly or rough brown to light gray.
Most trees begin acorn production after 20 years and an individual tree can produce over 5,000 nuts in a good year.

Acorns

Acorns


The Celtic religion venerated old oak trees, using them as a focus for spiritual rituals. The Druids believed the oak to be a sacred tree, the symbol of their religion, and potent source of wisdom. The ancient Greeks believed the rustling leaves of a sacred oak to be oracles from Zeus.
The oldest documented oak lived for 950 years in Switzerland.
The Jack London Oak was planted near the Oakland City Hall after the author died.
The Oak of Peace still standing in Glendale, California, was the site of the meeting between General Andres Pico and Colonel John C. Fremont that ended the War with Mexico in 1847.
In ancient Rome, a wreath of oak leaves was the highest award to the victorious commander.
Amazing oak leaves

Amazing oak leaves


In Greece, Scandinavia, Germany and Slavic countries, the oak was dedicated to the gods of thunder, because it was believed that the oak can withstand the thunderbolt.
Oak with acorns is an emblem of maturity and strength. Oak without acorns is the emblem of young valor. Acorn is a symbol of fertility, prosperity, spiritual energy, growing out of the grain of truth.
The wood of oak is valued in carpentry and building. The leaves, flowers, and bark were used by indigenous peoples for making medicinal drinks used to cure fevers, stop vomiting, and control diarrhea. Probably the most common worldwide use of oak is as fuel.
The image of the oak is present on many coats of arms.
Adult oak can absorb from the soil several hundred liters of water per day.
According to statistics, only one acorn of ten thousand eventually grows into a tree.
Oak barrels are widely used in the production and storage of elite beverages.

Oak – great tree

Attractive oak leaves

Attractive oak leaves

Awesome oak

Awesome oak

Beautiful oak

Beautiful oak

Cute acorns

Cute acorns

Great oak

Great oak

Oak leaves

Oak leaves

Oak tree in Corsica

Oak tree in Corsica

Oak in paintings

A. Savrasov. Summer landscape with oaks, 1850

A. Savrasov. Summer landscape with oaks, 1850

Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov. Old oak tree near the cliff above the river

Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov. Old oak tree near the cliff above the river

Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov

Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov

Arbitailo Mikhail

Arbitailo Mikhail

Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi

Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi

Bryullov. At the Bogoroditsky oak

Bryullov. At the Bogoroditsky oak

I. Levitan. Oak on the bank of the river, 1887

I. Levitan. Oak on the bank of the river, 1887

I. Shishkin. Oak Grove

I. Shishkin. Oak Grove

Isaak Ilich Levitan

Isaak Ilich Levitan

Isaak Ilyich Levitan. Oak grove in autumn

Isaak Ilyich Levitan. Oak grove in autumn

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. Oak trees. Evening

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. Oak trees. Evening

Jan van Goyen. Landscape with two oaks

Jan van Goyen. Landscape with two oaks

Kamenev Lev. Landscape

Kamenev Lev. Landscape

Konstantin Yakovlevich Kryzhitsky

Konstantin Yakovlevich Kryzhitsky

Mikhail Konstantinovich Klodt

Mikhail Konstantinovich Klodt

N. Ge. Oaks in the Carrara Mountains

N. Ge. Oaks in the Carrara Mountains

Nikolay Anokhin. Old oaks

Nikolay Anokhin. Old oaks

Oak branch with acorns by Leonardo da Vinci

Oak branch with acorns by Leonardo da Vinci

Oak crushed by lightning. Allegory on the death of Maksim Vorobiev's wife

Oak crushed by lightning. Allegory on the death of Maksim Vorobiev’s wife

Savrasov. Landscape with oak trees and shepherd

Savrasov. Landscape with oak trees and shepherd

Savrasov. Summer landscape with oak trees

Savrasov. Summer landscape with oak trees

Savrasov. Young oaks

Savrasov. Young oaks

V. Vasnetsov - Oak grove in Abramtsevo, 1883

V. Vasnetsov – Oak grove in Abramtsevo, 1883

View in Normandy, Summer day. 1860

View in Normandy, Summer day. 1860

Zaitsev Vitaliy. Oak grove

Zaitsev Vitaliy. Oak grove

Monument to acorn in St. Petersburg, Russia

Monument to acorn in St. Petersburg, Russia

Monument to the acorn in Solnechnoe, Leningrad region, Russia

Monument to the acorn in Solnechnoe, Leningrad region, Russia

Monument to the acorn in Viborg, Denmark

Monument to the acorn in Viborg, Denmark

Monument to the acorn

Monument to the acorn