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Guide to British Plants: O

Oak

A well known if no longer prevalent deciduous tree in the UK, the oak is tremendously long lived and has a long history in UK folklore. Easily recognised by its distinctive dark green lobed leaves and acorns, it can grow up to 115ft (35m), although the tree becomes sterile after several hundred years. Acorns have often been used as food in times of hardship but more commonly used as animal feed. Eating the raw acorn is far from recommended as they are very bitter and likely to cause upsets. More commonly the acorns are roasted and can be chopped up and used instead of almonds or ground into a tasty coffee, which was popular among the British armed forces in Germany a few years ago. To make the coffee the acorns are chopped, roasted and then ground up and roasted again. The coffee has a distinctive but not unpleasant flavour and is caffeine free. The Oak is a sacred tree to the British Druids and very rarely mistletoe would grow on it, this was deemed especially sacred and cut with a golden sickle. The oak is linked with the idea of the Duel king in Druidic lore and the character of Lancelot in some myths