Seed - raw or cooked[226]. Somewhat sweet[229]. The seed is about 1 - 3cm long[200] and ripens in its first year[235]. It contains about 6% protein and 65% carbohydrates[213]. It is low in tannin and needs little if any leaching. It is said that those seeds with red or pink blotches on the shell are the sweetest[183]. Any bitter tannins can be leached out by thoroughly washing the dried and ground up seed in water, though many minerals will also be lost. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency. The seed can be roasted and then eaten, its taste is something like a cross between sunflower seeds and popcorn[183]. The roasted seed is a coffee substitute that is free from caffeine[226].

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.


White oak was often used medicinally by several native North American Indian tribes, who valued it especially for its antiseptic and astringent properties and used it in the treatment of many complaints[257]. It is little, if at all, used in modern herbalism. The inner bark contains 6 - 11% tannin, it has powerful antiseptic and astringent properties and is also expectorant and tonic[61, 102, 213, 257]. The bark is boiled and the liquid drunk in the treatment of bleeding piles and diarrhoea, intermittent fevers, coughs and colds, consumption, asthma, lost voice etc[213, 257]. The bark has been chewed as a treatment for mouth sores[257]. Externally, it is used as a wash for skin eruptions, burns, rashes, bruises, ulcers etc and as a vaginal douche[222, 257]. It has also been used as a wash for muscular pains[257]. The bark is best collected in the spring[213]. Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[4].

Agroforestry Uses: White oak is potentially valuable for use in reforestation projects, and appears to have potential for use on other types of disturbed sites. It has been planted on strip-mined lands in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and has exhibited good growth and survival on cast overburden and graded topsoil overlying mine spoils. It is well adapted to loamy and clayey spoils with a pH of 5.5 to 8.0[1050 ] Other Uses: The leaves of most species in this genus are more or less rich in tannins. A mulch of the leaves can be placed around vulnerable plants in order to repel slugs, snails, grubs etc. Fresh leaves should be used with caution, since these can utilize some of the nitrogen in the soil and this inhibit plant growth[20 , K ]. The bark is a rich source of tannin[171 , 226 ]. Oak galls are excrescences that are sometimes produced in great numbers on the tree and are caused by the activity of the larvae of different insects. The insects live inside these galls, obtaining their nutrient therein. When the insect pupates and leaves, the gall can be used as a rich source of tannin, that can also be used as a dyestuff[4 ]. A brown dye is obtained from the bark or from the galls, it does not require a mordant[226 ]. Yellow, chrome and gold can also be obtained if mordants are used[226 ]. The wood is strong, very heavy, hard, tough, strong, close grained, durable[46 , 82 , 171 , 213 , 227 ]. It weighs about 46lb per cubic foot[227 ].When properly dried treated, the wood glues well, machines very well and accepts a variety of finishes One of the most important timbers in N. America, it is used for cabinet making, furniture, panelling, flooring, construction, mine props, agricultural tools etc[46 , 82 , 171 , 213 , 1050 ]. It is highly valued for making the staves of barrels for storing wine and liquor[274 , 338 ]. The wood is a good fuel giving off a lot of heat[46, 1050 ]. A dynamic accumulator gathering minerals or nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form - used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.

Special Uses