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Glite Dictionary
Quercus phellos

Quercus phellos

9.9
A medium to large oak tree with long narrow leaves often planted for shade, called willow oak
  • noun
  • /ˈkwɜrkəs ˈfɛloʊs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Quercus phellos
  • The city planted several Quercus phellos along the new boulevard to provide shade and beauty.

Examples

  • The Quercus phellos is valued for its rapid growth and graceful habit in landscaping.

  • Many birds and small mammals rely on the acorns produced by the Quercus phellos for food.

  • Look at that beautiful Quercus phellos!

  • The Quercus phellos thrives in wet soils.

  • Many birds and small mammals rely on the acorns produced by the Quercus phellos for food.

  • The Quercus phellos is valued for its rapid growth and graceful habit in landscaping.

  • The city planted several Quercus phellos along the new boulevard to provide shade and beauty.

Synonyms

willow oak
vsQuercus phellos
  • US
1 7.0

A medium to large tree with long narrow leaves like a willow and strong wood

is the formal scientific name rather than the everyday common name

Surface Forms

Quercus phellos singular
Quercus phellos plural

Morphology

Quercus + phellos

This is a Latin scientific name: although 'Quercus' signals an oak genus, 'phellos' is not an English word and its meaning is not recoverable from the listed constituents, so the specific sense 'willow oak' cannot be derived. Understanding species-level Latin/Greek epithets requires specialist or cross-linguistic knowledge beyond a B1 learner's vocabulary, making the expression non-compositional for typical learners.

Etymology

Quercus phellos begins with Quercus, the Latin word for 'oak'. The second part, phellos, was used by early plant scientists for trees with long, narrow leaves like a willow, so the name tells you it is an 'oak' that looks like a 'willow'.