Bernheim’s oaks are some of our most majestic and venerable trees. They are planted throughout the Arboretum, with the oldest and largest plantings being along the Arboretum Loop Road.
Our earliest oaks were planted in the late 1950's. Among these were Sawtooth, Pin and Willow oaks. Today, they are the backbone of our landscape. Some of our specimens come from humble beginnings while other have a storied past. The White Oak adjacent to the prairie, across the street from the Education Center, is known as the Lincoln Oak. The tree was propagated by Theodore Klein and given to the Arboretum. It is a seedling from a White Oak growing in Albion, Illinois, under which Abraham Lincoln spoke in the campaign for William Henry Harrison. Illinois State Historical Society states “Abraham Lincoln spoke in the Oak grove of General William Pickering in the presidential campaign of 1840.”
Included in our collection:
Quercus acutissima - sawtooth oak
Quercus alba - white oak
Quercus aliena - Oriental oak
Quercus bicolor - swamp white oak
Quercus buckleyi - Texas red oak
Quercus castaneifolia - chestnut-leaved oak
Quercus cerris - European turkey oak
Quercus dalechampii - Sessile oak
Quercus dentata - Daimyo oak
Quercus frainetto - Italian oak
Quercus fusiformis - Texas live oak
Quercus georgiana - Georgia oak
Quercus imbricaria - shingle oak
Quercus liaotungensis - Liaotung oak
Quercus lyrata - overcup oak
Quercus macrocarpa - burr oak
Quercus marilandica - blackjack oak
Quercus muehlenbergii - chinkapin oak
Quercus nigra - water oak
Quercus palustris - pin oak
Quercus phellos - willow oak
Quercus prinus - chestnut oak
Quercus rubra - northern red oak
Quercus shumardii - Shumard oak
Quercus texana - Nuttall’s oak
Quercus variabilis - Chinese cork oak
Quercus velutina - black oak
