Although there might be an older tree in town, the white oak tree growing just off Clarkson Road North is likely one of the most ancient. The area around the tree was enclosed by the city as “Oak Tree Park”.

According to various sources, the typical lifespan of this tree species is around 300 years, although in exceptional circumstances can even reach 600 years. Our Clarkson specimen is thought to be somewhere between 200 and 300 years old. In other words, the Clarkson white oak was a sapling somewhere between 1720 and 1820!

The tree has out-lasted many things in Mississauga. It was a silent witness to the growth of what was previously called “Clarkson’s Corners” (established c1808), the area being noted at one time as the “Strawberry Capital” of Ontario. Our white oak would have witnessed the Indigenous Mississauga’s traversing the land, the first Crown surveyors, Warren Clarkson building a house nearby in 1819, and also stood here at the arrival of the railway in 1855.

In addition to the beauty of the tree itself, its wood can be quite valuable. Unlike many other types of trees, white oak wood is essentially waterproof, making it ideal for use in shipbuilding, barrel making and other applications where water resistance is crucial.

White oaks can reach a height of 35 metres, with the average between 20 and 30 metres. The diameter can vary between 50 and 120 centimeters. There are two types of oaks commonly found in Ontario: the red oak and the white oak. The white oak is easily identified by its rougher bark, unlike the smooth-barked red oak. The white oak sheds acorns, and anyone with this tree on their property has witnessed the abundance it can let fall and heard the cracking sound of the acorns striking their roofs, driveway and cars. These acorns were once an important food source for the local Indigenous population as well as for early settlers. The ground kernels would be added to soups or roasted among hot coals, then peeled to be eaten as a snack. The kernels are rich in tannins, which can make them quite bitter, but there are many techniques (most involving boiling in several changes of water) to remove that unpleasant quality. The acorns from the red oak are virtually inedible, as their bitterness cannot be removed. Not only are the acorns useful to us; they are a significant food source for ducks, white-tailed deer, squirrels, chipmunks, shrews and blue jays.

Our glorious white oak tree is a part of Mississauga’s history as much as any man-made object and is certainly one of the oldest treasures of the City’s heritage.