Bebb Oak

treebing

treebing

Been here much more than a while
Location
Detroit, Mi.
Anyone ever hear of a Bebb Oak? anyway we have the National champion right here in SE michigan. Its got is own sign and everything. The electric people even moved their lines across a main road so it wouldn't run near the tree.

Granted, iot is a gorgeous tree, its huge and broad, I wish I could post a picture but I am a patron of the library and have no camera.

Any way, to me it looks like a burr oak or possibly a Swamp White Oak. I have a little trouble with those two. I have been looking through books and can not find any reference to a Bebb Oak.

Is it just me or is this tree not only the biggest Bebb Oak in the country but also the only one? help Me out with this one.
 
cool, thanks tom. that is the tree. Amazing, the picture doesnt even do justice to some of the lower branches.
Google is a good tool that I do forget about
 
It took me a while to understand exactly what a Bebb Oak was. The first coupl of sites made it sound like it was a nursery bread cultivar. That didn't make sense if the tree was a state champion and used to be on the Big Tree Register. Then I found that it is a natural cross breeding of white and burr. One site said that the cross exhibited the best of both parent trees. That didn't make sense either. How can there be an improvement on either tree? I can't think of anything that isn't desireable. Since you've seen the tree, how does it compare to white and burr?

I keep my Google link at the top of my Daily page, just a couple of lines below Treebuzz :)
 
It does make sense that it would be a cross between the two. When I looked at the tree I thought it looked like a Burr or a swamp white oak. The bark is very similar to the Burr Oak and the leaves are very Burresque in quality. I haven't looked at the acorns closely but will the next chance I happen to drive by.

I think the form of the tree is more White Oak. A lot of Burr oaks seem to have tighter crotches and more flexible wood. This tree has definitly the more classic white oak wider than it is tall sprawling strong limbed characteristics. Knowing what I know now I might have more insight when I go back and check it out again.
 
I was going to make a thread about the Bebb oak today but wanted to find out what the heck a Bebb oak was in the first place. Google brought me to this thread. Although old it is just what I was looking for.

After the MTCC on Saturday, my wife and I drove around in search of the mysterious Bebb oak. After many wrong directions we pulled onto Livernois to discover the beast. We sat in awe under it for a bit then took some pictures. Thought you guys would like the pics. Photo credit to my wife.

P8210248.jpg

-
-
-
P8210252.jpg
 
from:
http://www.fireflybooks.com/bookdetail&ean=9781552096031

[ QUOTE ]
Quercus x bebbiana:
Found in the eastern USA, this decidous tree growing to a height of 150 ft (45 m) is a natural hybrid between White oak (Q. alba) and Bur oak (Q. macrocarpa). In most respects it resembles Q. alba but its leaves are larger, sometimes reaching 12 in (30 cm) long, with 5 lobes on each side and downy undersides. In summer it sets a few deep cupped acorns, many of them not properly formed. Zones 4-9

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of the other listed hybrids:
Q. x deamii (macrocarpa x muehlenbergii)
Q. x jackiana (alba x bicolor)
Q. x leana (imbricaria x velutina)
Q. x runcinata (imbricaria x rubra)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom