Texture Browser

Botanical Name

Quercus robur L. (Stieleiche, Sommereiche), Quercus petraea Liebl. (Traubeneiche, Wintereiche) (Fam. Fagaceae)

Trade Names

Sommereiche, Stieleiche, Wintereiche, Traubeneiche, European oak, Chêne blanc, Farnia, Rovere, Europees eiken

Substitution

Sweet chestnut

Indigenous to

Europe across to Asia Minor; both Oak species are missing in Central- and North Scandinavia, nearly throughout Finland, West- Central- and South Spain

Characteristics

The sapwood and the heartwood are sharply separated. In general the sapwood is narrow and yellowish-white. When freshly cut the heartwood is yellow grey, later when exposed to light and air it darkens to a light to dark brown. The pores form at spring wood of the annual rings an uninterrupted cross-zone. The rays are broad and distinguishable. The structure is different depending on location and age, usually straight grown to spirally grown, the texture is also different from fine-grained to rough.