What Is The State Tree of Maryland?
White Oak is the state tree of Maryland. The scientific name of Maryland’s state tree white Oak is Quercus alba. Quercus is the genus of the white Oak and Q. alba is its species. It is commonly known as The Charter Oak. It is also called live oak Live Oak, Bur Oak, Red Oak, White Oak, Oak, Golden Oak, Portugal Coral Oak, and Royal Oak. It belongs from the beech family of Fagaceae. It is commonly found in the southeastern U.S. states from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas.
When a state body selects a symbol for the state it should represent extraordinary design, quality, expression cultural, traditional and religious background, which go back thousands of years for its popularities. On basis of the facts that stated above, on February 21, 1908, the Maryland General Assembly approved the “native oak” tree as the official state tree of Maryland that effect from July 1, 1908. There were at least 20 species of native oak grown in Maryland and difficult to identify. Therefore, in 1973 the law has amended and designates the white oak of Quercus alba genera as Maryland official state tree.
It is not only the state tree of Maryland but also state and national tree of many other countries and states with variant of species, like as State tree of Iowa (Bur Oak), New Jersey (Red Oak), Maryland, Connecticut (White Oak) and national tree of Germany, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Serbia, Romania, USA (Oak), Croatia, Estonia (Pedunculate Oak), Cyprus (Golden Oak), Portugal (Coral Oak), United Kingdom (Royal Oak).
Facts about Maryland’s State Tree [White Oak]
Common Name: White oak or Charter Oak
Genus: Quercus
Species: Quercus alba
Found in: Commonly found in the southeastern U.S. states from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas
Flower Color: Green (male flower) and Reddish (female flower)
Time of blooming: March through May.
Twig: Slender, gray and pubescent, with small, blunt, numerous fatal buds.
Bark: Quickly increasing red-brown trough with small surface scales. Gradually are becoming black and very blocky.
Leaf: Rotate, plain, evergreen, leathery, 4 to 7 inches long, oblong or oval in shape with an entire or spiny and revolute margin.
Fruit: Acorns (fruits of the Oaktree) are in a bunch of 3 to 5, which are maturing in a season.
Type: Evergreen
Purpose: Fragrant, ornamental.
Symbolism: Sovereignty, power, Strength & Endurance, Generosity & Protection, Justice, Nobility, Honesty & Bravery
Maryland’s state tree White Oak is evergreen plants with a diversity forms, either shrubby or dwarfed with large and dispersal, depending upon the place. Generally White oak grows on sandy soils of low coastal areas. The Oakwood is very weighty and tough but better to use at current. The leaves of white Oak are rotated, plain, hairless, 4 to 7 inches long, oblong to oval in shape with an entire or spiny and with an equally lobed margin. The frontage of the leaf is bright green and the rear is whitish. The flowers of white oak are appeared with the leaves, through exposed catkins, 2 to 4 inches long. Male flowers are green Female flowers are reddish and emerge as single spikes. White oak never reaches great height, but occasionally the circlet may have a span of 46 in (150 ft) or more.
It open-grown specimens may have trunks 200 cm (79 in) in d.b.h. and average 15 in (50 ft) in height. The White oak trees prefer acidic loam and admit most types of soil, together with sand and clay. It can grow in alkaline or acidic soil, wet or well-drained. If once the White Oak established it can resist burly winds and also dearth lenient.
Maryland’s state tree White Oak or Native Oak has strong astringent properties. Internally as a tea it helps fight diarrhea and dysentery. Externally it can be used to treat hemorrhoids, inflamed gums, wounds, and eczema. It has also been used as American folk medicine. White oak trees have lot of magical/magickal properties, some of which are: (a) Dreaming of resting under an oak tree means to have a long life and wealth. (b) Climbing the tree in a dream means a relative will have a hard time of it in the near future. (c) Dreaming of a fallen oak means the loss of love.
Maryland’s state tree White Oak or Native Oak as the King of Trees has been sacred to the various European Gods including Zeus, Jupiter, Thor and Jumala. Pliny wrote about the Druid’s reverence just before this tree, illumination that they assembled for the ceremony in Oak orchards, congregation the sacred mistletoe with a golden sickle. Likewise, the Galatian peoples held gathering in oak sanctuary. The fruits of Oak which called acorns also have a symbolic importance that it used as a divinatory system. Combining all this, the Oak can represent the community, religious virtue and foresight.
To sum up, White Oak or Native Oak is the state tree of Maryland that symbolizes Sovereignty, power, Strength & Endurance, Generosity & Protection, Justice, Nobility, Honesty & Bravery and also the spirit of the state that makes it as the state tree of Maryland.
Ref:
http://www.ereferencedesk.com/resources/state-tree/Maryland.html
https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/Maryland/state-tree/white-oak
