Quercus robur English oak

Quercus robur, Clark Center. Sairus Patel, 6 Sep 2023

Quercus robur on Roth Way (since removed). Sairus Patel, 17 Oct 2018

The iconic oak of Europe, its proverbial hardness and strength are quite literally embedded in its name: Latin robur denoted both oak and strength, and is also the source of “robust.” The Spanish name for the oak, roble, was applied to California’s native valley oak for its resemblance, gaving us names such as Roble Hall, Stanford’s first women’s dormitory. The strong, durable wood of English oak was prized for shipbuilding; some oak woods, planted with future naval needs in mind, outlived the wooden fleets they were meant to supply. English oak and the closely related sessile oak (Q. petraea) – about 2,000 trees in all – supplied timber for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame after the 2019 fire. The lobed leaves of English oak, also called pedunculate oak for the long, delicate stalks from which its acorns hang in clusters, bear a distinctive pair of ear-like lobes at their base and are themselves almost stalkless.

Only columnar selections have been planted on campus in recent decades. The most prominent are the ‘Fastigiata’ along the bike racks on the west side of Clark Center (2004). A similar row is on the west side of neighboring Fairchild Center; these were planted in 2010 when the adjacent Alumni Lawn was created. A columnar hybrid lines the path in the southwest courtyard of Meier Hall (2017), and dozens more march in rows across the courtyard between 455 and 485 Broadway at Stanford Redwood City (2019). These hybrids may be crosses with Q. bicolor, judging from their similar leaves.

A venerable 50-foot English oak with a spreading crown, removed in 2022, once stood just north of Roth Way, midway between Palm and Lomita drives; its retaining wall had also protected a coast redwood. A row of ‘Fastigiata’ lined Buckeye Lane at Schwab Residential Center before the area was redeveloped. In Palo Alto, the columnar English oaks in front of 2650 Birch Street retain their dead leaves through winter.