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Quercus robur (Fagaceae)

This majestic oak can be found in an open field and it’s one of the oldest trees around Mantua (some 200 years old). Its trunk has a circumference of 8.2 ft and the tree height is about 98.5 ft (just as tall as a 10-story building).
This specimen looks even more spectacular in the growing season, when its branches are covered with leaves forming a crown more than 131 ft in diameter.

This English oak is probably what remains of the old forests that used to be part of the Gonzaga hunting estates.

How to get there:

Get to Sacca – part of the municipality of Goito (MN) – along the Mincio River. There, you’ll find the field with this oak. You’ll have to ask for permission to go across the private property on via Sacca, 117.

Botanical Card:

This species is distributed throughout most of Europe, reaching southern Scandinavia, the Caucasus, Italy, and the Douro river across northern-central Spain and Portugal.

In Italy, it’s quite abundant, but it doesn’t grow in, Campania, Puglia, Sicily, and Calabria Regions. Nonetheless, in the latter part of Italy, its total absence has not been confirmed yet.

The English oak is typical of lowland forests, often associated with other broad-leaved trees such as hornbeams, field elms, field maples, narrow-leafed ashes, and black alders.
Unfortunately, those forests have grown smaller and smaller, due to land reclamation and transformation for agriculture.

This species needs a large amount of light and water, in fact, it cannot withstand any water stress.
It prefers deep, fertile, and fresh soils with sub-acid or sub-alkaline reactions.

Its wood is highly appreciated as it tends not to rot with water; for this reason, it is often used in shipbuilding, home constructions, barrels, furniture, and floors. This wood is also a good type of fuel and a source of excellent coal.

Photo source: http://www.parks.it/parco.mincio/pun_dettaglio.php?id_pun=1258

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)