Quercus undulata

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Nut

The seed, up to 2cm long, can be eaten raw or cooked. It can be dried and ground into a powder for use as a stew thickener or mixed with cereals for bread. Bitter tannins can be leached out by washing thoroughly in running water, though this also removes many minerals. Either whole seeds or ground powder can be used — whole seeds may take several days or weeks to leach sufficiently, and wrapping them in a cloth bag placed in a stream is one traditional method. Leaching powder is quicker. A taste test confirms when enough tannin has been removed. The traditional preparation involved burying seeds in boggy ground over winter; the germinating seed dug up in spring would have lost most of its astringency. The roasted seed serves as a coffee substitute.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant.

North America, USA,

How to Identify

Wavyleaf oak is a deciduous shrub reaching 3 meters tall. Hardy to UK zone 5 and not frost tender. The plant is monoecious and wind-pollinated. It grows in loamy and clay soils across mildly acid to basic pH ranges, tolerating semi-shade or full sun. It prefers moist soil and withstands strong winds but not coastal exposure.

How to Grow

Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side. 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. The seed ripens in its first year. 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: Seed loses viability rapidly if allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool over winter but is best sown as soon as it is 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, they should be moved to their permanent positions as soon as possible — seed sown in situ produces the best trees. Trees left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons transplant very poorly.

Medicinal Uses

A decoction of the root bark has been used to treat internal pains. Galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in treating haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, and dysentery.

Other Uses

A mulch of leaves repels slugs and grubs, though fresh leaves should not be used as they can inhibit plant growth. Oak galls produced by insect larvae are a useful source of tannin once the insect has pupated and left; the tannin can also be used as a dyestuff. Tannin is also obtained from the bark. The wood is used mainly as fuel.

Wavyleaf oak is a deciduous shrub reaching 3 meters tall. Hardy to UK zone 5 and not frost tender. The plant is monoecious and wind-pollinated. It grows in loamy and clay soils across mildly acid to basic pH ranges, tolerating semi-shade or full sun. It prefers moist soil and withstands strong winds but not coastal exposure.

Notes

There are about 600 Quercus species.

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