There is quite a precious wood material in the world that has silver-gray noble veins, and it also absorbs history. We are talking about bog oak, the price of a cube ranges from 70,000 to 120,000 rubles.
For thousands of years and centuries, sunken oak trunks were located at the bottom of river beds, where, without exposure to air, the wood stained and became so strong that it was not inferior in this indicator even to stones. Mother Nature, having given durability and beautiful colors to this material, has determined its incredible properties. It is impossible to find a more beautiful wood texture in the world than this.
It is for this reason that a distinctive feature of products made from such wood is that they are not coated with varnishes, but with dyes. The color of the wood will speak for itself - delicate shades of fawn indicate that the wood is three to four hundred years old, and black color is obtained if the wood has been stained for more than 1000 years.
Bog oak is the most precious tree (7 photos)
The rarest wood in the world, which is a kind of precious material, is bog oak. A cubic meter of this wood costs an average of $2,000. The bog oak has two lives, one of which it lives on land, and the second under water.
This second life began many centuries ago, when, subject to intergalactic laws, rivers changed their course. Time eroded the shores, and trees from coastal oak forests ended up under water, where they remained until an inquisitive person discovered them.
Only in the post-Soviet space are such huge reserves of bog oak preserved. For example, in European countries for 100 years the discovery of a single specimen of bog oak has been an event. And such finds are reported in the media.
For 100 years, many enterprising people in all corners of Russia have been harvesting bog oak. Bog oak, as part of other firewood, was mainly used as fuel.
One day, having pulled the trunk to the surface and tried to process it, he was amazed at the beauty and strength of the resulting wood. While admiring, the man asked himself the question: what unknown force turned the familiar oak into a mysterious one, covered on the surface with torn pieces of coal, and inside hiding a strong, smoky, living, unique texture of the material? And he began to look for answers to his questions, working with bog oak and giving it a third life...
In Rus', furniture sets and souvenirs were created from bog oak, which now occupy pride of place in fine arts museums and antique salons around the world.
Not a single foreign furniture company can offer for public viewing products adequately made from natural bog oak. This is the prerogative of only Russian masters. Since from the beginning of the millennium to the present day, relict oak forests throughout the world have been completely destroyed, reserves of bog oak remain only in Russia.
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Notes
- For the convention of indicating the class of dicotyledons as a superior taxon for the group of plants described in this article, see the section “APG Systems” of the article “Dicotyledons”.
- should not be confused with the oak species Black Oak, which grows in the southern part of the range of this species, but is significantly different from it and is called “water oak” in the USA
- Sander, Ivan L. Quercus velutina
: [English] // Silvics of North America: [English]: encycl. : in 2 vol. / Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H.. - Washington, DC: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1990. - Vol. 2: Hardwoods.
Unique characteristics
The oak lives its first life on the shore, the second in the water. The priceless wood is environmentally friendly - it got into the water in the pre-industrial period. After spending at least 300 years under water, bog oak acquires silver and fawn shades. And after 1000 years, the wood becomes almost black, although there are specimens with a purple tint, which allows the products to look even more original. This occurs due to the lack of oxygen supply due to the layer of sand and silt under which the tree rests, and high pressure. At this time, special chemical reactions take place and a natural preservative, tannin, is produced. Oak acquires amazing properties - it becomes hard, almost like stone and resistant to rotting and drying out, and no varnishes or paints are used in the manufacture of products - its texture and color are perfect.
Features of the reaction
Changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of wood associated with the passage of complex chemical reactions: leaching of water-soluble substances contained in the cell walls. The process has been proven by the results of numerous studies conducted by N. T. Kuznetsov back in the 30s of the last century.
As a result, it was possible to establish that stained wood contains 75% less water-soluble substances than natural wood. This indicates an increase in cell porosity and a decrease in their density, which results in an increase in the moisture content of the saturation limit, balancing shrinkage, and maximum humidity. It is this factor that explains the absolute shrinkage of boards or workpieces during drying of the sawing material.
The analysis data contributed to the development of thought and the formation of a new technology for drying wood and blanks made from it with a thickness of up to 22-32 mm in a convective or convective-microwave oven, or a vacuum-dielectric drying unit.
The use of advanced technologies has resolved the issue of temperature treatment of wood. There is virtually no internal or external cracking. Collapse in such cases is unacceptable.
The interesting concepts put forward by researchers and scientists do not end there. The study of the properties of stained wood is at the stage of processing geoanalysis data and continues its evolution in the world.
Material extraction
The extraction of bog oak in large quantities today is only possible in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. “Ironwood,” as it was called in the old days, is mined from the bottom of reservoirs during the minimum water level in the river. To search for precious material, the area is explored over many kilometers. In places where its deposits are supposedly located in the water, scuba divers begin working. They have to manually feel each trunk.
Each trunk is lifted ashore using modern technology. The weight of the tree can reach 50 tons. After lifting, the material is moved to the crosscutting area, its condition is assessed and processing begins immediately. After such “re-preservation” it can deteriorate in a fairly short period.
Artificial staining of oak
There are instructions on the Internet on how to make bog oak with your own hands using ammonia. But freshly cut oaks differ significantly in their qualities from those that have lain under water for centuries. When processing at home, there is a high risk that the wood will “lead”, so you need to be extremely careful with finished products.
Suppliers who use artificial staining claim high physical and mechanical properties of the material and guarantee ideal colors. The cost of such material differs slightly. But, in fact, the quality of such material is noticeably lower. No matter what technologies they use to stain a tree, it will never acquire the same qualities as a natural fossil oak that has undergone natural transformation processes. Only a specialist can distinguish real staining from artificial staining, which is what unscrupulous sellers take advantage of, greatly inflating prices for “fake” products.
Features of oak extraction and processing
The process is complex and labor-intensive, and not every specialist can handle wood processing. Despite this, the products deserve the highest praise due to their qualities.
Important! If you plan to process or decorate the surface with stained wood, then try to prepare the material in advance. It takes more than one year to process wood.
To obtain such valuable material, water areas of significant volumes are examined, especially the bottom of reservoirs. Moreover, the work is carried out in very difficult conditions.
Using bog oak
In order to create products from bog oak, it must be properly dried and stored. International and state standards for ordinary wood are not suitable for bog oak. Special requirements affect its cost. Properly soaked and dried bog oak is expensive, which reduces the demand for it. Unfortunately, illiterate miners of this value, neglecting all the rules, throw the trunks in the sun or leave them in open-air areas for the winter, store them on barges, etc. As a result, most of the material becomes unusable and is used for firewood, and the remainder, which can be used elsewhere, is sold at a low price.
In the 90s, there were many cases when hundreds of cubic meters of bog oak were lifted from the water, sent wet abroad by wagons, and as a result it went into the furnace, because... upon arrival was not suitable for manufacturing products. Because of this, Western investors have lost interest in running such a business for a long time. Sometimes some of the raised trunks were thrown back into the reservoir. It is extremely difficult to return such material to normal condition when re-lifted.
Even in our time, there are very few specialists who can properly process wood. But if no mistakes are made, products made from bog oak truly become masterpieces of art in the hands of skilled craftsmen. For centuries, stunning and unique things were created from it - a variety of furniture, boxes, caskets and figurines - and was called “black gold”. Wealthy people could even afford parquet flooring for exorbitant amounts of money. Carving on bog oak was trusted only to trusted “blacksmiths”. Oak sets adorned the best houses, and men walked pompously with pipes made from this tree. Making it into veneer or covering it with varnishes, plastics and synthetic resins is absurd.
Bog oak is a valuable material that cannot be replenished, like any fossil. Hundreds of years must pass for new specimens to appear. But they will no longer be environmentally friendly due to environmental pollution. A thoughtless, superficial attitude towards the material leads to a reduction in stocks, but for now there is time to purchase products from centuries-old trees. They will serve more than one generation and will inspire awe among true connoisseurs of the natural beauty that nature has created.
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How to Grow Black Oak
Seed selection
It all starts with the selection of seeds. In our case, an acorn, although using a sprout will also work. By the way, despite its unpretentiousness, the plant still requires certain specialized care in the initial stages of its development.
In fact, it is not possible to simply plant an acorn in unprepared soil and wait for it to grow. Most likely, the planting will not break through the untreated soil. This is why we strongly recommend placing acorns in separate indoor pots.
But first, let's choose acorns. You can either buy them or assemble them yourself.
The main parameter is the absence of external deformations and the sufficient size of the grain itself. Shake the acorn; if the seed clearly hits the walls of the acorn, this indicates an unsuitably small size of the future plant. There is a high probability of death of the young planting.
Look for a seed that is large enough, without any visual defects.
Landing Features
Landing instructions:
- The seed should then be buried in a home pot with moist soil. The latter, ideally, should be collected next to the already spreading oak tree from which the acorn fell. But, if this is not possible, simple deciduous forest soil will do.
- Don't forget about regular water treatments. To speed up growth, you can always germinate an acorn in a piece of wet cotton wool.
- Note that within 730 days the oak only forms the root system. The emphasis is on the underground part of the plant, so you won’t see any serious spreading sprouts yet.
- When transplanting to open ground, be extremely careful with the roots of the plant. An inexperienced gardener can damage the central root, thereby wasting all the efforts of the oak tree.
If the work is done correctly, within the next couple of years you will notice unprecedented growth in your new pet.
During the care process, the only significant problem that you will have to deal with yourself is the fungus. Various fungal growths can indeed spoil the appearance and harm the health of the plant, but the foundation solution will leave no chance for infection. Per liter of liquid, take 10 grams of the active substance.
Bog oak. What is it and why will you get rich if you find it? bookmark 9
Oak itself is not an expensive material, and due to its physical properties it is used everywhere. It has high density, strength and hardness, which makes it a popular material in such industries as construction, furniture manufacturing, production of finishing materials, shipbuilding and many others. Bog oak, although it consists of the same wood, is much more valuable and quite rare material. It is impossible to simply pick it up and grow it, even if you are willing to wait for many years. So, let's figure out what bog oak is and what its value is.
The rarest and most expensive wood is mined in Russia
When I found out that in Russia there is wood whose price is 18,000 euros per cubic meter, I wanted to find out everything about it, to see what makes it so special. I'll tell you what my investigations led to.
There are still a lot of forests in our country, there are enough valuable tree species, then what kind of wood is this at such a strange price.
My first surprise was when I found out that the tree was oak. But the oak is not ordinary, but stained.
But who among us has not seen “stained” oak in construction stores, but the prices there were different, because there, as experts explained to me, only the name is different from stained oak.
But you won’t see real bog oak in chain stores; it’s a special tree.
Bog oak is not just a tree with some special wood color or density - it is wood that has lain in water for many centuries.
Bog oak is obtained as a result of long-term exposure of wood to the river.
But this is not the case when a tree fell into the water and lay there and for some reason did not rot. No – these are 2 tree lives.
The first is that an oak grows in a grove on the bank of a river, gaining strength and power. The second is in the water. The river changed its course and swallowed up the grove. All this happened in ancient times.
After spending at least 300 years under water, oak wood changes not only its color, becoming silver or fawn, but also its properties. Thousand-year-old wood becomes dark, almost black. This happens because it has undergone a mineralization process in its natural environment. The lack of oxygen due to the layer of sand and silt in which trees have been exposed for hundreds of years, pressure leads to special chemical reactions, and a natural preservative is produced - tannin. It is this that causes the oak to become hard, like stone, resistant to rotting, and changes the shade of the wood. It becomes darker.
In the world, with the exception of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, there is no wood equal to this in terms of environmental, cultural and historical parameters.
The process of obtaining wood is very complex and labor-intensive. After all, the tree must not only be discovered under a layer of silt, but also dug up, raised to the surface and processed.
Now all I have to do is look at this special bog oak.
This can be done in the only exhibition in Russia dedicated to bog oak - Treasures of the River.
It is located in the city of Kozmodemyansk in the House of Bog Oak.
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Description
In the north of the range there is a relatively low deciduous tree, reaching a height of 20-25 m and a trunk diameter of 90 cm. In the south and center of the range it reaches 42 m in height. The crown is cylindrical with a rounded top. The bark is dark brown to almost black, with deep furrows, the ridges are often broken into irregularly shaped blocks, and on young trunks it is smooth dark brown. The inner layers of the bark are yellow or orange. The shoots are red-brown, (1.5)2.5–4.5(5) mm thick, with brown felt pubescence, which disappears significantly or completely during the summer.
The apical buds are densely tomentosely pubescent, ovoid or ellipso-subterminal, 6-12 mm long, clearly pentagonal in cross section, reddish-brown, the edges are gray in color. Leaf petiole 25-70 mm, glabrous with sparse pubescence. The leaves are ovate or obovate, (80)100-300 mm long and 80-150 mm wide. Leaf blade with deep wide notches on each side and 2-3 lobes, of which the upper one is much larger than the lower ones, along the edges coarsely notched-toothed or almost notched-lobed, with teeth ending in a long spinous ending and with a relatively short and wide notched-toothed, or at the end of a shallowly lobed, terminal lobe. The foliage is bright red when blooming, then becomes silver in color, when fully developed it turns to green and turns orange-red in autumn. The abaxial side is pale green, more or less tomentosely pubescent over the entire surface and especially along the veins and in the corners between them; adaxial - glossy, dark green, naked.
Anther catkins 10-15 cm long, pistillate flowers and fruits almost sessile or on a short thick stalk, solitary or in twos.
The plush is in the shape of a deep cup or an inverted cone, 7-14 mm high by 12-22 mm wide, covered with oval light brown, slightly spaced scales, bare or finely pubescent, and covers up to ½ of the nut. The nut is brown, almost spherical or ovoid, finely pubescent, 10-20 mm high and 10-18 mm wide. Acorns ripen in the second year - from the end of August to the end of October, depending on the geographical location.
