Quercus ×vilmoriniana Follow-Up

Shortly after publishing the Hybrid Highlight on Quercus ×vilmoriniana, I received feedback from readers, with material worth sharing.

Jef Van Meulder pointed out that, contrary to what I had written, the cultivar 'Limburg' had indeed been published, appearing in the 2014 Year book of the Belgian Dendrology Society, as Quercus 'Limburg'. It was selected at Bokrijk Arboretum in Belgium, which is in the province of Limburg, hence the name. Jef was Curator at the Arboretum at the time and wrote an article for the Yearbook describing several new oak cultivars. The original plant of Q. 'Limurg' was grown from seed collected from the Quercus ×vilmoriniana at Arboretum national des Barres in 1989; it is thought to be a backcross with Q. petraea. It was selected for its dark green leaves and overall beauty, and has been successfully propagated by grafting on Q. robur stock.

Sarah McNaull, Plants Records Specialist at Cornell Botanic Gardens, provided photos of their specimen of Q. ×vilmoriniana, which has an estimated height of 7.5 m and has been growing in their collections for 20 years:

Gert Fortgens clarified that the cultivar 'Vredenoord' was grown from seed collected in 1973 form the original tree in France. He also provided photos of this cultivar and of the other specimen of the hybrid growing in Trompenburg Tuinen and Arboretum: Quercus ×vilmoriniana 'Maurice de Vilmorin', grafted from the original tree. See below.

Quercus ×vilmoriniana 'Maurice de Vilmorin'

Quercus ×vilmoriniana 'Vredenoord'

Thank you Gert and Jef for the feedback, always welcome!

Photos © Gert Fortgens