Quercus robur L., Pedunculate Oak

Native, but also often deliberately planted, common and quite widespread. European temperate.

1882; Barrington, R.M.; around Lough Erne.

Throughout the year.

As there is considerable difficulty with identification of this species due to introgression (gene flow or genetic transfer) with the closely related Q. petraea (Sessile Oak), I have decided to amalgamate the species accounts of our two native oaks and present them both and that of their hybrid under Q. petraea. This is not to deny for a moment that they are separate taxonomic entities, nor to suggest despite high degrees of overlap in their biology and behaviour that they are identical in their ecology and distribution. Rather I believe that the two deciduous oaks native to Britain & Ireland are more similar than different from one another, and the proper degree of distinction is still under debate and a matter of active research.

65% of the combined total of deciduous oaks recorded in Fermanagh are listed as Q. robur and it is present in 174 tetrads, 33% of those in the VC. While it is common and widespread throughout Fermanagh, Q. robur is still (like Q. petraea) most frequently recorded in woods on the major demesnes which are situated around the larger, lowland lakes. Many of these woods occupy ground where original natural forest was clear felled and replanted from the late 18th century onwards, when for several reasons outlined by Rushton (1983), Q. robur might well have been the preferred species. Proof of this suggestion, or even whether the planters knew the species they were handling, is difficult to establish. While Pedunculate Oak is over twice as locally widespread as the Sessile Oak in Fermanagh, it is still nowhere near as frequent or widespread as Fagus sylvatica (Beech), the latter being the 11th most frequent tree or shrub in the county.