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Quercus alba

Common name:	White Oak	Family:	Fagaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Maine to Florida, west to Texas and Minnesota.
Habitat:	Dry woods[43], gravelly ridges, sandy plains, rich uplands and moist bottoms[82]. The best specimens are found in deep rich well-drained loamy soils[229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Q. alba var. subcaerulea[B,P] Q. alba var. subflavea[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Chene Blanc [E], Northern White Oak [B], Oak,White [E], Quebec Oak [H], Roble [E], Weisse Eiche [E], White Oak [H,P,E,DEN1,FEIS,S,L], Witte Eik [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	alba = white;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fagales. Beech family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	France; Germany; Netherlands; Spain; Us; Us(Amerindian); Us(Appalachia); Us(Penobscot)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 20m by 10m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 4 and is frost tender. It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy.

Cultivar 'Lint': Woodland, Canopy.

Edible Uses

Coffee; Seed.

Seed - raw or cooked[226]. Somewhat sweet[229]. The seed is about 1 - 3cm long[200] and ripens in its first year[235]. It contains about 6% protein and 65% carbohydrates[213]. It is low in tannin and needs little if any leaching. It is said that those seeds with red or pink blotches on the shell are the sweetest[183]. Any bitter tannins can be leached out by thoroughly washing the dried and ground up seed in water, though many minerals will also be lost. 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 seed can be roasted and then eaten, its taste is something like a cross between sunflower seeds and popcorn[183].
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute that is free from caffeine[226].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiseptic; Astringent; Tonic.

White oak was often used medicinally by several native North American Indian tribes, who valued it especially for its antiseptic and astringent properties and used it in the treatment of many complaints[257]. It is little, if at all, used in modern herbalism.
The inner bark contains 6 - 11% tannin, it has powerful antiseptic and astringent properties and is also expectorant and tonic[61, 102, 213, 257]. The bark is boiled and the liquid drunk in the treatment of bleeding piles and diarrhoea, intermittent fevers, coughs and colds, consumption, asthma, lost voice etc[213, 257]. The bark has been chewed as a treatment for mouth sores[257]. Externally, it is used as a wash for skin eruptions, burns, rashes, bruises, ulcers etc and as a vaginal douche[222, 257]. It has also been used as a wash for muscular pains[257]. The bark is best collected in the spring[213].
Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[4].

Other Uses

Fuel; Repellent; Tannin; Wood.

A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth.
The bark is a rich source of tannin[171, 226].
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[4]. A brown dye is obtained from the bark or from the galls, it does not require a mordant[226]. Yellow, chrome and gold can also be obtained if mordants are used[226].
Wood - strong, very heavy, hard, tough, close grained, durable[46, 82, 171, 213, 227]. It weighs about 46lb per cubic foot[227]. One of the most important timbers in N. America, it is used for cabinet making, construction, agricultural tools etc, and is also a good fuel[46, 82, 171, 213]. Highly valued for making the staves of barrels for storing wine and liquor[274].

Cultivation details

Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side[1, 11]. Lime tolerant[188]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[200]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[200].
The white oak 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 over the winter[200]. There are, however, a number of trees 20 metres tall in Britain, mainly in the south-east of the country[11].
Sometimes cultivated for its edible seed, there are some named varieties[183]. Trees take about 30 years before they start to bear good crops of seed, they then have heavy crops about every 3 years with light crops in the other years[227]. They continue to yield commercial crops for about 120 years[227]. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[200, 229].
Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young, though they may require protection for the first winter or two[11].
Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[200].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

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[11]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly.

Cultivars

'Lint': An old cultivar, selected for its very heavy production of acorns[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for the family Fagaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[102] Kavasch. B. Native Harvests. Vintage Books 1979 ISBN 0-394-72811-4
Another guide to the wild foods of America.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. 1989 ISBN 0889025649
Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

making flour from acorns

John Rutherford (johnr@dynamite.com.au) Mon Jan 24 10:49:48 2000

I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction in regard to processing acorns for food. your list mentions a number of preferred trees (american indians mainly) and i have tried the following: Q. palustris (pin oak), Q. lobata (valley oak), Q. macrocarpa (burr oak) and Q. robur (english oak).

Pin Oak (Q. palustris) was a waste of time because of the difficulty in shelling small acorns. the acorns also have the brown skin covering the kernal which apparantly adds a bitter taste if not removed.

Both the valley and burr oaks were quite successful. both trees supplied large acorns and both were free of the offending brown skin. The english oak was also worth the effort although I gather that some trees have sweet acorns and others produce acorns with a fair quantity of tannin.

Method: the shelled acorns were ground in a kitchen blender with enough water to help the blender go round. the slush was then put in a large metal dish and stirred thoroughly, then allowed to settle for 12 hours. the brown tannic water was poured off into another metal dish and more clear water was added to the slush and stirred. This was repeated about 4 times before the water remained relatively clean (pale light brown or fawn). this was strained through a tea towel and the resulting acorn meal was placed in a dish and allowed to dry out.

The resulting "flour" was used to make fairly basic scones (egg, salt, butter and "flour" mixed together) and made very pleasant eating. the processed acorns make a rather sweet tasting flour and if someone else did all the work i could make it my staple diet.

Disadvantages include: shelling the acorns. leaching the mush/slush for 2 or three days and getting so little acorn meal out of a lot of acorns.

Questions:

a. does tannin accumulate in the body? assuming that even the best leaching will leave some tannic acid - will a constant diet eventually damage the kidneys? (or is it the liver?).

b. does the tannic acid remove itself if the acorn is kept for a year? or if it is buried and sprouted? or if it is roasted? - will roasting in some way destroy the tannin?

c. is the flour a good substitute for cereal flours for those allergic to grains (celiac? allergy)?

d. does anyone know a good way of shelling acorns?

e. are there any commercial suppliers of acorn flour?

f. when the comment in the pfaf list says of an acorn "can be eaten out of hand", does this mean that it has a sweet taste and that you don't need strong jaws?

I was interested to see that the initial water poured off (see para 5) when allowed to settle precipitated a reasonable amount of whitish sediment which I assume to be a variety of starch. I tasted a little bit of it (it was brittle) and it had a sweet taste and melted in the mouth. I rang the local university in the hope of getting it analysed but was told that it would cost me an arm and a leg for their trouble - therefore a further question:

Question g. can anyone tell me if acorns produce a known type of starch - is this starch nutritious - if not starch what is?

Would you be able to advise me in regard to a book on the preparation of acorns or a study of the nutritional value (and the dangers) of them. have you any contacts with someone who may be an expert in this regard?

grateful if you could help in some way.

Cross references: Plants: Quercus macrocarpa. Genera: Quercus.

making flour from acorns

Unknown Fri Dec 1 22:52:15 2000

Read j Russell smiths book Tree crops a permenant agriculture

Cross references: Plants: Quercus macrocarpa. Genera: Quercus.

Main Search Page

Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Quercus+alba
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Quercus+alba

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