Quercus ellipsoidalis

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds - coffee

The acorn, up to 2cm long, must be cooked before eating. It can be dried and ground into flour for thickening stews or mixing with cereals for bread. Bitter tannins are present and need to be leached out by washing thoroughly in running water, though minerals are lost in the process. Whole seeds may take several days or weeks to leach properly; placing them wrapped in a cloth bag in a running stream is one effective method. Ground meal leaches more quickly. A simple taste test shows when the tannin is sufficiently removed. Traditionally, seeds were buried in boggy ground over winter and dug up in spring, by which time most of the astringency had gone. The roasted seed can be used as a coffee substitute.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It is native to Canada and the north of the United States. It grows on sandy soils in open disturbed places. It suits hardiness zones 5-10.

Australia, Canada, North America, USA,

How to Identify

A deciduous tree. The bark is shallowly furrowed. It grows 15-21 m high. The trunk is 30-80 cm across. The leaves are 7-12 cm long, The leaves have lobes. These are often constricted towards the base. The leaf stalk is slender and 3.5-5 cm long. The twigs are reddish brown and hairy when young. The acorns and 12-18 mm long. The cup is 10-15 mm across. It encloses one third of the nut. It tapers to a stalk like cup.

How to Grow

Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side. Lime tolerant. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted. 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 overwinter. A moderately fast-growing tree in the wild. Seed production is cyclic, with a year of high yields being followed by 2 - 3 years of low yields. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed taking two summers to ripen. Hybridizes in the wild with Q. velutina. Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young. Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation: Acorns lose viability quickly if allowed to dry out. They can be stored moist and cool over winter, but are best sown as soon as ripe in an outdoor seed bed with protection from mice and squirrels. Small quantities can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Because plants develop a deep taproot early, they should be moved to permanent positions as soon as possible — seed sown in situ produces the best trees. Do not leave trees in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons, as they transplant very poorly after that point.

Medicinal Uses

Any galls that form on the tree are strongly astringent and have been used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, and dysentery. A decoction of the inner bark has been used to treat suppressed menstruation caused by cold.

Other Uses

A mulch of the leaves repels slugs and grubs, though fresh leaves should not be used as they can inhibit plant growth. Oak galls, produced by the larvae of various insects, can be harvested once the insect has pupated and left — they provide a rich source of tannin that doubles as a dyestuff. The wood is hard, heavy, and strong, and is cut occasionally for lumber, being used for flooring, furniture, and interior finishes.

Quercus ellipsoidalis, the northern pin oak or Hill's oak, is a North American species of oak tree native to the north-central United States and south-central Canada, primarily in the Great Lakes region and the Upper Mississippi Valley. It most commonly occurs on dry, sandy soils.

Notes

There are about 600 Quercus species.

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