Uses
Edible uses
Notes
Seed - cooked
[1][2]. A staple food for several native North American Indian tribes
[3]. The seed is about 3cm long and wide
[4][5] and can be up to 5cm long and wide
[4]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed contains bitter tannins - these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
Material uses
A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth.
The acorn cups, soaked in water containing iron, produce a black dye[3].
Oak galls are excrescences that are sometimes produced in great numbers on the tree and are caused by the activity of the larvae of different insects. The insects live inside these galls, obtaining their nutrient therein. When the insect pupates and leaves, the gall can be used as a rich source of tannin, that can also be used as a dyestuff[6].
Wood - heavy, hard, tough, very strong, close grained, compact, shock resistant
[7][4][8]. This tree produces the best western oak timber, it has a variety of uses including making agricultural implements and wagons
[4][8]. The wood is an excellent fuel
[3].
Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc
[6].
Ecology
Ecosystem niche/layer
Canopy
Ecological Functions
Nothing listed.
Forage
Nothing listed.
Shelter
Nothing listed.
Propagation
Seed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees
[9]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly.
Practical Plants is currently lacking information on propagation instructions of Quercus chrysolepis. Help us fill in the blanks! Edit this page to add your knowledge.
Cultivation
Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side
[10][9]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade
[5]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted
[5].
Prefers warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, trees often grow poorly in this country and fail to properly ripen their wood resulting in frost damage overwinter[5].
A slow-growing but long-lived tree in the wild[8]. When killed by forest fires it often resprouts from the roots[8]. Seed production is cyclic, occasional years of high yields being followed by several years of low yields[8]. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[5][8].
Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young[9].
Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[5].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus
[5].
Crops
Problems, pests & diseases
Associations & Interactions
There are no interactions listed for Quercus chrysolepis. Do you know of an interaction that should be listed here? edit this page to add it.
Polycultures & Guilds
There are no polycultures listed which include Quercus chrysolepis.
Descendants
Cultivars
Varieties
None listed.
Subspecies
None listed.
Full Data
This table shows all the data stored for this plant.
Taxonomy
Binomial name
Quercus chrysolepis
Imported References
Material uses & Functions
Uses
Material uses
None listed.
Medicinal uses
None listed.
Ecosystems
Native Climate Zones
None listed.
Adapted Climate Zones
None listed.
Native Geographical Range
None listed.
Native Environment
None listed.
Root Zone Tendancy
None listed.
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"image:Quercus chrysolepis 08566.JPG|248px" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki.
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"image:Quercus chrysolepis 08566.JPG|248px" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki., "image:Quercus chrysolepis 08566.JPG|248px" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki.
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References
-
? 1.01.1 Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture. ()
-
? 2.02.1 Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books ISBN 3874292169 (1984-00-00)
-
? 3.03.13.23.33.4 Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. ISBN 0-88192-453-9 (1998-00-00)
-
? 4.04.14.24.34.44.54.6 Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. ISBN 0-486-20278-X (1965-00-00)
-
? 5.05.15.25.35.45.55.65.75.8 Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press ISBN 0-333-47494-5 (1992-00-00)
-
? 6.06.16.26.3 Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 (1984-00-00)
-
? 7.07.1 Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable ISBN 0094579202 (1974-00-00)
-
? 8.08.18.28.38.48.58.6 Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. ISBN 0442238622 (1980-00-00)
-
? 9.09.19.2 Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray (1981-00-00)
-
? F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press (1951-00-00)
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