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English Oak (Quercus robur)
A deciduous tree from the Beech Family (Fagaceae)
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4-8
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50'
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50'
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medium
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full partial
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broadly columnar
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moist, well-drained
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 English Oak, as its name implies, is an Oak tree native to England (or more accurately Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia), and therefore is not a tree native to Ohio woodlands. It is similar in leaf appearance to White Oak, but does not have its spreading majesty with age or its reddish foliage color in autumn. Under landscape conditions in urban environments, it may reach 50 feet tall and 50 feet wide.
It is being increasingly used as genetic stock to generate hybrids with other members of the White Oak group, for use as landscape shade trees. As a member of the White Oak group and the Beech Family, it is related to the Beeches, Chestnuts, and other Oaks.
Planting Requirements - English Oak, in spite of being an imported species of Oak, adapts well to the tough conditions of the eastern and midwestern United States. It prefers moist, well-drained, moderately rich soils of variable pH, but adapts very well to moderately dry soils of poor quality. It thrives in full sun to partial sun (but is shade tolerant in youth), and grows in zones 4 to 8.
Potential Problems - English Oak (as well as Swamp White Oak) is notorious for developing powdery mildew on its foliage by mid- to late summer (this is the common white fungus found within the leaves of many Lilacs and Roses at the same time of season, strictly a cosmetic disease that has no long-term impact on the health of the tree whatsoever). Other than this cosmetic white blemish on its dark green foliage, English Oak is usually disease- and pest-free, although it may on occasion be subject to the standard army of pests and pathogens that afflict the Oaks.
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Leaf Identification Features
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 English Oak has leaves that are alternate, slightly obovate, with lobes that vary in terms of their size and corresponding sinus depth (left). Leaf shape is variable and most easily confused with White Oak. As compared to White Oak, the leaves of English Oak are smaller, never have sinuses to near the midrib, have shorter petioles, and leaf bases that are sometimes auriculate (hanging like ear lobes alongside the short petiole).
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 Along with Swamp White Oak, this species is the most likely to develop powdery mildew on its leaves by late summer. It is a member of the White Oak group, even though it is native to Europe. Trees often retain a good degree of their dead foliage throughout the winter.
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Other Identification Features
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Most Oaks that are grown at tree nurseries are planted from seeds, and exhibit natural variation that is not present with the cultivars of other types of trees, which are clones that are grafted or budded onto seedling rootstock. However, English Oak has an upright form called 'Fastigiata' which normally comes "true from seed" and remains broadly columnar throughout its life.
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English Oak is monoecious, having catkins in mid-spring that fertilize female flowers on the same or nearby trees, producing long acorns that only take a single season to mature, like other members of the White Oak group. English Oak (along with Swamp Chestnut Oak, Chestnut Oak, and Swamp White Oak) is known for the long penduncles that attach to its acorns, which ripen in early to mid-autumn.
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The terminal buds of English Oak are rather large. Its mature bark becomes moderately ridged and furrowed, and retains the light gray to medium gray color that is characteristic of the White Oak group.
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The growth habit of English Oak is upright, densely oval, and symmetrical through middle age, then becoming more spreading with advanced maturity.
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