Book Review: Protected Oaks of Serbia

This book, the title of which translates into English as Protected Oaks of Serbia, is unique in that there are no other such books dedicated to large or protected trees of Serbia, let alone oaks. Published in 2019, its 157 pages are dedicated to five species of oaks growing in most of Serbia: Quercus robur, Q. petraea, Q. frainetto, Q. pubescens, and Q. cerris (the sixth species—Q. trojana occurs rarely and only in the Metohija region). Fifty different individual trees or groups of trees out of a total 64 thus protected are presented: Q. robur (25 individuals and 6 groups); Q. frainetto (7 individuals); Q. pubescens (1 individual and 1 group); Q. petraea (1 individual); Q. cerris (7 individuals and 2 groups). According to the authors, 98% of the protected oaks are self-sown (there is one tree in Belgrade, which was planted, but the authors express this figure in percentages). 

Each species has been dedicated its own chapter, starting with a botanical description and proceeding to individual trees. Each species description is provided with its illustration and its distribution map in Europe. Unfortunately, the Q. pubescens illustration on page 106 corresponds to Q. petraea. According to the authors, the illustrations were taken from the book Dendrology, by B. Jovanović¹. The illustration in question comes from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, plate 31, titled Quercus sessiliflora Sm. [sic], presumably a reference to Q. sessiliflora Salisb., a synonym of Q. petraea. Whether or not the mistake was originally made by Jovanović (I did not check), the authors should have not reproduced it blindly.

Each tree has two pages: the left page contains its photo, while the right page includes the description of the tree, its location, any local story concerning it, dendrometrical characteristics, coordinates, and a small map of where it can be found.

Very often the authors will start with a local legend involving some historical figure, but then give their opinion on how the tree came to grow there, as well as an estimate of the age of the tree. For instance, the Oak of Tzaritza Milica was supposed to be a favorite resting place of Princess Milica (1335-1405), the wife of Prince Lazar, but the authors estimate it is only 300 years old..

The book is printed on a high-quality paper, in color, and it is richly illustrated. The authors also present a map of Serbia with represented oaks as well as summary dendrological data on each oak species. According to this book, the tallest protected oak in Serbia is a Q. robur (33 m, Village of Kumane); the widest, of the same species, has a DBH of 2.3 m (Village of Vraneši).

¹ Јовановић, Б. 2007. Дендрологија. Београд: Научна књига – Jovanović, B. 2007. Dendrology. 4th edn. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade, Serbia [in Serbian]