Quercus alba L. - Fabaceae - white oak, eastern white oak, chêne blanc, **Amerikanische Weiß-Eiche**

Deciduous tree, up to 25m high, native to eastern and central North America; bark light gray, twigs green or reddish, becoming gray; buds dark reddish brown; leaves obovate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, margins moderately to deeply lobed, lobes often narrow, rounded distally, sinuses extending 1/3-7/8 distance to midrib, abaxially light green, adaxially light gray-green, dull or glossy; acorns 1-3, subsessile or on peduncle to 25(-50) mm; nut light brown, ovoid-ellipsoid or oblong, (12-)15-21(-25) × 9-18 mm, glabrous. 
[[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501007]]

"Barrels made of American white oak are commonly used for oak aging of wine, in which the wood is noted for imparting strong flavors. Also, by federal regulation, bourbon whiskey must be aged in charred new oak (generally understood to mean specifically American white oak) barrels." [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_alba]]

„…methylene chloride extracts of various experimental beverage brandies, unaged and aged in French and American oak barrels, were analyzed for higher boiling volatile compounds by temperature-programmed gas chromatography. Diethyl succinate, 5-methyl furfural, and β-methyl-γ-octalactone were identified as substances derived from oak during aging. These compounds were found in relatively high concentrations in brandies aged in American (U.S.) oak.“ \\
[Guymon, J. F., and E. A. Crowell. "GC-separated brandy components derived from French and American oaks." American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 23.3 (1972): 114-120]

{{oaklactone.png| oak lactone}} [[http://www.leffingwell.com/chirality/whiskeylactone.htm|oak lactone]] (whiskey lactone)

Unheated Quecus alba grains contained 1.6-6.6 µg/g trans-oak lactone and 14-86 µg/g cis-oak lactone. Heating the wood slightly decreased the amounts to 1.4-5.3 µg/g trans-oak lactone and 11-73 µg/g cis-oak lactone. \\
[Pollnitz, Alan P., Graham P. Jones, and Mark A. Sefton. „Determination of oak lactones in barrel-aged wines and in oak extracts by stable isotope dilution analysis.“ Journal of Chromatography A 857.1-2 (1999): 239-246]

{{quercusalba_1902.jpg}} \\
Quercus alba L.; Dame, L.L., Brooks, H., Handbook of the trees of New England (1902) \\
[[http://www.plantillustrations.org/species.php?id_taxon=4474]]

{{whiteoakswampoakcompared.jpg}} \\
[[https://bplant.org/compare/173-176|White Oak vs Swamp White Oak]] (left four vs. right four) [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/de/|CC BY-SA 4.0]]