Oak

There are two forms of native Oak growing in Scotland – the Sessile Oak, and the English Oak. The Sessile is most common in the West and North, and the English in the East and South, but spread is mixed, and the two types can cross to form individuals - or even whole forests, in Gaelic ‘coille darach’ - that are both. The general appearance of each is very similar, and barely to be told apart in Winter. In Summer the leaves of Sessile can be seen to be produced on new annual stalks, while on the English new leaves grow from the twig, and the Acorn of English grows on a long stem while the Acorn on Sessile on little or no stem. The usual Gaelic name for the Acorn is ‘dearc dharaich’ – the ‘fruit of the Oak’. The Oak can live for hundreds and hundreds of years – tall and straight in a forest, wide-trunked and wide-crowned in open farmland or park. When young the bark is shiny and pale grey/brown, darker and furrowed and cracked, and in plates, on older trees. On thick stiff twigs the golden buds - in Gaelic ‘gucagan’ - swell in Spring, opening in May to reveal a spray of soft pale leaves. The colour of young leaves varies a lot from tree to tree, from bright green to orange or red. Mature leaves are dark green and smooth, with ten to twelve lobes. When the leaves are still stretching the flowers appear , the most conspicuous being the little golden tassels of the male. The tiny red female flowers then produce the acorns, little tight cups at first, growing and opening during the Summer, revealing the green acorn, becoming oval and pointed and brown. From the acorn grows the tree, large and strong, a haven and a great source of sustenance for insects and creatures, and a source of timber - ‘crann’ in Gaelic - for boats and houses, and of wood for charcoal – ‘fiodh-ghual’ in Gaelic. Its importance is seen in the widespread use of its Gaelic name, as in Craigendarroch in Aberdeenshire – the ‘Rock of the Oak’, and Doire darach in Mull – the ‘Oak Grove’, and several names in Lochaber, where it is the Clan Badge of Cameron. In Sail dharaich in North Uist an oak log was burnt at mid-Winter, symbolising the death of the old year and the birth of the new.