This 5 minute film links some work I already did on lemons and the Persian oak – see below.
And also adds more on the English Oak.
English oaks are – probably – even more entrenched in English folklore and history than Persian oaks are in SW Iran.
Quercus robur is England’s national tree and there are more ancient oaks in England than in the whole of the rest of Europe: 3400 from medieval or Tudor times – or even earlier.
This huge number follows on the 1066 conquest of William the conqueror. When he took control over all the land in England, he wanted to make deer parks for himself and his nobles to hunt in. Oak trees were a key part of those deer parks.
Before the 19th century, Royal Navy ships were all made from oak – these ships have been called ‘the wooden walls of old England’. Oaken ships were used for slaving, and to protect the slaving fleets.
Eventually, after the Slave Trade Act 1843, the oak Royal Navy ships were used to suppress the international Slave Trade.
And heres more on the Persian oak: https://carolinemawer.com/quercus-brantii-the-west-asian-oak/