With an age of more than 900 years, a circumference of 9,3 meters and a height of 21,3 meters the oak tree is the biggest and oldest in Romania and one of the oldest in Europe.
it can be found surrounded by several younger (with their 2 to 7m trunks) old oak trees on one of the pastures near the town of Merchesa
Stunning photos 😍
Thank you for this post. But I have to correct you in several respects. First, this is a Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur), not a Sessile Oak. This is clear from the leaf morphology (I visited in October 2023). Second, no one knows how old it is. Any oak over about 400 years old will have a hollow centre, so its age cannot be assessed by ring counting. Judging from the condition of this oak, it may be up to 800 years old though probably less. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive specimen. Above all, let’s not repeat the error that this is a Sessile Oak.
This is definitely a Quercus robur, or Pedunculate Oak, not a Sessile Oak (Q. petraea or Q. sessiliflora). This is easily seen by the leaf form, which I confirmed on a recent visit – very short petioles (stalks) and two lobes at the base of the leaf. Unfortunately this error has been repeated throughout the internet.
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