Quercus cerris

Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak or Austrian oak,[3][4] is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months.

Turkey oak
Turkey oak foliage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus subg. Cerris
Section: Quercus sect. Cerris
Species:
Q. cerris
Binomial name
Quercus cerris
Distribution map
Synonyms[2]
List
  • Cerris australis Raf.
  • Cerris austriaca (Willd.) Raf.
  • Cerris crinita (Lam.) Raf.
  • Cerris paliphleos Raf.
  • Quercus aegilops Scop.
  • Quercus ambrozyana Simonk.
  • Quercus asplenifolia A.DC.
  • Quercus austriaca Willd.
  • Quercus cana Steud.
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutiloba Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutilobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutobipinnata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutodentata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutolaciniata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. acutomucronata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. balatae Boros ex Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. basi-cuneata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. basicordata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. dentatolaciniata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. laciniatolyrata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. leviterlobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. lobatolaciniata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. mucronata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. mucronatobipinnata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. mucronatopinnata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. pinnatilobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. roborilobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. rotundatolaciniata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. rotundatolobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. rotundilobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. sinuatolobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. sublobata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris subf. submucronata Mátyás
  • Quercus cerris f. verae-csapodyae Mátyás
  • Quercus crinita Lam.
  • Quercus crispa Steud.
  • Quercus echinata Salisb.
  • Quercus frondosa Steud.
  • Quercus haliphlaeos Lam.
  • Quercus heterophylla A.DC.
  • Quercus lanuginosa Lam.
  • Quercus nicotrae Lojac.
  • Quercus pseudocerris Boiss.
  • Quercus ragnal Lodd. ex Loudon
  • Quercus raynal K.Koch
  • Quercus secondatii Steud.
  • Quercus thracica Stef. & Nedjalkov
  • Quercus tournefortii Willd.
  • Quercus tukhtensis Czeczott
  • Quercus variegata Lodd. ex Steud.

Description

Quercus cerris is a large deciduous tree growing to 25–40 metres (82–131 feet) tall with a trunk up to 2 m (6+12 ft) in diameter. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. On mature trees, the bark fissures are often streaked orange near the base of the trunk. The glossy leaves are 7–14 centimetres (2+345+12 inches) long and 3–5 cm wide, with 6–12 triangular lobes on each side; the regularity of the lobing varies greatly, with some trees having very regular lobes, others much less regular.

The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins, maturing about 18 months after pollination; the fruit is a large acorn, 2.5–4 cm (1–1+12 in) long and 2 cm broad, bicoloured with an orange basal half grading to a green-brown tip; the acorn cup is 2 cm deep, densely covered in soft 'mossy' bristles from 4–8 millimetres (1838 in) in length.

Ecology and cultivation

First year acorns are very bitter, but are eaten by jays and pigeons; squirrels usually only eat them when other food sources have run out.

The species' range extended to northern Europe and the British Isles before the previous ice age, about 120,000 years ago. It was reintroduced in the UK and Ireland in the eighteenth century as an ornamental tree,[5] its gall wasps now provide early food for birds.[6] The tree harbours the gall wasp Andricus quercuscalicis whose larvae seriously damage the acorns of native British oaks. In 1998, the Ministry of Defence ordered the felling of all Turkey oaks on its United Kingdom bases.

Turkey oak is widely planted and is naturalised in much of Europe. This is partly for its relatively fast growth. It is used as an ornamental, and as a coastal windbreak. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Variegata', a variegated cultivar, and 'Woden', with large, deeply lobed leaves.

Turkey oak readily hybridises with cork oak (Q. suber), the resulting hybrid being named Q. × crenata Lam. This hybrid occurs both naturally where its parents' ranges overlap in the wild, and has also arisen in cultivation. It is a very variable medium to large tree, usually semi-evergreen, sometimes nearly completely so, and often with marked hybrid vigour; its bark is thick and fissured but never as thick as that of the cork oak. Numerous cultivars are available, often grafted onto Turkey oak root stock. These include 'Ambrozyana', evergreen except in severe winters, originating from the Arboretum in Slovakia, home of the late Count Ambrozy; 'Diversifolia', with the leaves extremely deeply cut leaving a narrow strip down the centre, and very corky bark; 'Fulhamensis' (Fulham oak), raised at Osborne's nursery in Fulham c.1760; and 'Lucombeana' (Lucombe oak), raised by William Lucombe at his nursery in Exeter c. 1762. An early specimen raised by Lucombe is at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.[7] A similar Lucombe oak was felled by fungus and a light wind in Phear Park, Exmouth 15 February 2009.

Uses

The wood has many of the characteristics of other oaks, but is very prone to crack and split and hence is relegated to such uses as fencing.

See also

References

  1. Gorener, V. (2017). "Quercus cerris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. "Quercus cerris L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. Speer, James H. (2010). Fundamentals of Tree-Ring Research. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. p. 270.
  4. Fonseca, Matthew A. (2005). The Measurement of Roundwood: Methodologies and Conversion Ratios. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing. p. 242.
  5. "The Definitive List of British Oak Trees & Their History | EHBP". English Heritage Buildings. 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  6. BBC News, " Ancient tree helps birds survive", 17 August 2008 Accessed 18 August 2008.
  7. "Lucombe oak". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 4 June 2006.

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