The ‘winged oak’, mentioned in Pherecyd. Syr. VS 7 B 2 = fr. 78 Sch., posed several exegetical problems. The aim of this paper is to show how the oak can be related to the nuptial rite in the context of hierogamy, and especially associated with Χθονίη: as other ‘arboreal’ goddesses who are at the centre of female initiations, Χθονίη is also represented as a δενδρῖτις goddess. The oak tree is in that case ‘winged’ perhaps to represent the suspended condition – similarly to the swing or hanging – in which the woman finds herself at the moment of transition from παρθένος to γυνή.