Willow Oak

Quercus phellos

Basic Information

Family: Fagaceae

Genus: quercus

Plant ID (slug): quercus-phellos

Numeric ID: 22044

USDA Hardiness: 5-9

Ratings

Physical Characteristics

Quercus phellos is a deciduous Tree growing to 20 m (65ft) by 10 m (32ft) at a medium rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 6. It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Distribution

South-eastern N. America - Staten Island to Georgia, west to Texas.

Habitats

Woodland Garden Canopy;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Seed Edible Uses: Coffee Seed - cooked[2, 63, 105]. Rather small, it is only 1cm long[11, 200]. The seed can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed contains bitter tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency. The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.

Medicinal Uses

Analgesic Astringent Dysentery Salve A decoction of the wood chips or bark has been applied externally as an analgesic and as a bath for aches, pains, sores, cuts and haemorrhoids[257]. Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[4].