Sessile Oak

Quercus petraea

Usually taller and straighter than the English or Pedunculate oak. Sessile Oak has longer leaf stalks and lacks the small lobes at the back of each leaf which point backwards on the Pedunculate Oak. The sessile leaves taper into the stem at the base. The acorns have no stalks whereas on the Pedunculate, the acorns sit at the end of a stalk. Sessile Oak tends to grow on poorer acid soils in the western and northern parts of Britain. As a result, Sessile Oak does not support the same diversity of wildlife as the Pedunculate. Indeed, it is rare to find a Sessile Oak covered in caterpillars as is often the case with Pedunculate Oak.