Pedunculate oak

The tree of the Slavic thunder god – oaks several hundred years old grow in Białowieża Forest and in Polesia.

The pedunculate oak is a mighty, long-lived tree reaching 35–40 m, with a spreading crown and thick, deeply furrowed bark. It has lobed leaves on short stalks and acorns borne on long stalks. It grows on fertile soils in oak–hornbeam forests, floodplain forests and oakwoods, often mixed with hornbeam, lime and maple. Its hard, durable wood has served for centuries in building, cooperage and furniture-making, and old oaks are home to rare beetles, lichens and fungi.

Significance in the country

In the old beliefs of the Eastern Slavs the oak was the tree of the thunder god Perun, and sacred oaks were venerated long after Christianisation. The oldest and largest Belarusian oaks grow in Białowieża Forest and in the oakwoods of Polesia along the Pripyat.

Where it grows

Throughout the country, most abundant in the south – in the oakwoods and floodplain forests of Polesia along the Pripyat – and in Białowieża Forest in the Brest region; in the north it grows as a minor component of mixed forests.

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl)