Hobbies And Interests
The Oak Tree
The oak tree belongs to the genus Quercus and the family Fagaceae. There are more than 80 different species of oak trees in North America and more than 600 throughout the world. The oak tree is a fruit-bearing tree, producing acorns. Oak trees have toothed leaves that give off a lot of shade and have deeply furrowed bark. This hardwood tree is known for its toughness, durability and the attractiveness in its grain. These features make the oak a desirable wood for lumber.
Deciduous Trees
Oak trees are a deciduous tree, otherwise known as broadleafs or hardwoods. Deciduous means "falling off" or "shed at a particular season." In the case of trees, deciduous is used to refer to trees that lose their leaves in the fall, as opposed to coniferous trees that retain their needles through the winter. Most oak trees lose their leaves in the fall, but some in more tropical locations retain their green leaves throughout the winter. Deciduous trees are well known for the amount of shade that they give, and oak trees are no exception.
Diseases Plaguing Oak Knolls
Oak knolls form among any of the four predominant species of North American oak trees: live oak, red oak, pin oak and white oak. The interconnectedness of the vascular systems of oak trees as they become intertwined in a knoll leaves them particularly susceptible to disease. Knolls are vulnerable to anthracnose, a type of fungi affecting many shade trees -- including oak trees. They are also prone to oak tatters, particularly the white oak. This disease makes the leaves look as though they have been eaten, when in fact the leaves develop with no tissue between the veins. Oak knolls are also vulnerable to oak wilt. This is caused by an infection of a fungus called ceratocystis fagacearum, which causes the leaves to turn brown and rapidly defoliate.
Minimizing the Impact of Oak Tree Diseases
There is little that can be done to prevent diseases from flourishing in closely-knit oak tree knolls. The interconnectedness of these trees makes the spread of disease inevitable if one of the trees becomes infected. To minimize the impact, avoid allowing farm animals to graze on the foliage. Avoid transplanting trees, and if planting trees in your own yard, mulch newly planted or established trees to reduce grass competition. This reduces the likelihood of the oak trees becoming intertwined in order to compete for nutrition. For the disease in which a fungus infection is the issue, swift treatment with a chemical fungicide as well as chemical root disruption may be effective.