104. Holywood Big Oak

They don’t get much bigger than this Irish giant and Holywood star.

In case you hadn’t twigged, that’s Holywood, County Down, not Hollywood, California, but for dendrophiles, the former has a lot to offer in the shape of the Holywood Big Oak. It is a Turkey oak, a species that can reach gargantuan proportions, and this tree is one of the most stupendous in Ireland or Britain. It is thought to have been planted in 1802, and in just over 220 years, it has reached a size that a native Irish oak could only dream of. 

Species details

Turkey Oak
Quercus cerris

Where to find it 

Ballymenoch Park, Woodlands, Holywood BT18 0PE
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Turkey oak notes

Although variable, this species can be distinguished from native sessile (Q. petraea) and pedunculate oaks (Q. robur) by its deeply furrowed bark and sharply angular leaves which tend to shed later in the autumn too. But the giveaway is the acorns: Turkey oaks produce theirs with a hairy cupule, or acorn cup, a feature I always think of as appropriately reminiscent of Ottoman head gear. Turkey oaks are also of interest for being one of the parent species (along with cork oak (Q. suber)) of the hybrid ‘Lucombe’ oak (Q. x crenata ‘Lucombensis’), and for the role they play in the complicated life cycle of the knopper gall wasp.

See you in Dorking?

On the evening of 30th May, I’ll be signing books, and giving a talk about my British and Irish tree hunting adventures to celebrate the opening of The Remarkable World of Trees Exhibition at Dorking Library. It would be lovely to see you there!

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