The Verdun Bench | KewWe tell the story of how an oak tree with a poignant history lives on in Kew Gardens. An acorn from the Battle of Verdun A specimen of Quercus petraea (sessile oak) was planted at Kew in 1919 from an acorn collected after the Battle of Verdun in France, one of the longest fought battles of the First World War. Lasting from February to https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/verdun-bench-kew-world-war-one