Keyed Out #072 — Quercus robur

Question 1

Each hard, one-seeded nut sits with its base clamped in a woody cup made of many small {bracts} fused into overlapping scales.

Accepted Answer

beech family

Question 2

The tree is {monoecious} and its flowers have no petals at all: pollen is shed from slender drooping {catkins} while the tiny female flowers sit separately on the same shoot.

Accepted Answer

Fagaceae

Question 3

The alternate, simple blade is cut into a series of deep, blunt lobes running a third to halfway toward the {midrib}, rather than left whole with a merely wavy or saw-toothed edge.

Accepted Answer

Quercus

Question 4

Its winter shoots finish in a crowded cluster of several overlapping scaly buds packed into the last inch (2.5 cm) of the twig, not a single bud standing alone beside a leaf scar.

Accepted Answer

Quercus

Question 5

The ripe fruits hang in twos and threes from a slender {peduncle} 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 cm) long, swinging clear of the shoot instead of sitting tight against it.

Accepted Answer

Quercus robur

Question 6

The blade is almost stalkless, its base drawn back into two small ear-shaped flaps or {auricles} that clasp a {petiole} under 0.4 inch (1 cm) long, rather than tapering evenly onto a stalk 0.5 to 2 inches (1 to 5 cm) long.

Accepted Answer

Quercus robur