White Oak-6/14/11

Quercus Alba

Basic Info:
White oak, or quercus alba, is usually found in the wild in eastern North America. It is usually 80-100 feet tall, though the tallest is 144 feet. The average width is 3-4 feet. It is not unusual for this specimen to sometimes be as wide as it is tall. Usually that is when it is standing by itself, outside of the forest. If it is grown purposely, the limbs branch out, nearly parallel to the ground.If it is in the woods, the trunk goes straight up and then branches out at acute angles. The leaves, on average, are about 5-8.5 inches long, and 2.75-4.5 inches wide. The bark ranges from white(rarely) to dark grey, though it is usual light grey. It lives to be 600 years old. The wood is light brown, and often, and sadly, used often for furniture and flooring.

Oak Lore:
These deities thought that this oak tree was sacred: Zeus/Jupiter, Pan, The Dagda, Hera. Dryads, of Greek mythology, were especially associated with oak trees. They would wear crowns of oak leaves, and dance around the oak trees merrily. Druids thought that inside the oak trees the spirits of the dead lived, so they thought that if you chopped down an oak tree the spirits were released into the world to cause happiness, pain, grief, joy, etc. Druids would conduct secret rituals amidst an oak grove, and they thought that everything that grew on the sacred tree was sacred itself, such as mistletoe, moss, and so on and so forth. Oaks were the homes of faeries, and they absolutely worshipped the tree. They wore the acorn caps as hats, and used the leaves for autumn celebration. In Sherwood Forest--yes, that really exist, and it has since the end of the last ice age--the oldest oak tree lives at 800-1000 years old.
If you put 2 acorns in a bowl together, a couple can see what will happen in their future. This is just superstitious, so don't go telling other people that this is true! If the acorns float together, the couple will marry. If the acorns drift apart, the couple will do the same. If the acorns sink, then I don't know what to tell you.
This is all I have to say about White Oaks and oak trees. See you next time! (not really see, but...) Good Bye!

Sources:
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/trees.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_oak
http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/oak-tree-in-lore-and-myth/