''Quercus pontica'', the Pontine oak or Armenian oak, is a species of endangered oak currently extant to the western Caucasus mountains of Georgia and northeastern Turkey where it grows at altitudes of .

Description

''Quercus pontica'' is a deciduous small tree or large

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and sparse, stout shoots. Its

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is grayish to purple-brown, smooth on young trees but becoming rough later in its life. Its

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

grow to long, rarely 35 cm, and 4–15 cm across. They are ovate, and have a serrated margin with numerous small, pointed teeth. The leaves are covered in hairs when they are young, but become smoother as they age. They become bright green later in life and turn yellow brown in

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

. The flowers are

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

s, the male catkins 5–20 cm long. The fruit is a large

acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

2.5–4 cm long, produced in clusters of 2–5 together.

Taxonomy

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''pontica'', refers to the Latin term for Pontus, a historical region near the Black Sea.Archibald William Smith

Cultivation

It is occasionally grown as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in northern Europe.

References

External links

Ornamental Plants from Russia: ''Quercus pontica''

Other sources

*Rushforth, K. D. ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins. *Coombes, A. J. ''Trees''. Eyewitness Handbooks. pontica Flora of Armenia Flora of Turkey Garden plants of Europe Ornamental trees Plants described in 1849 {{Quercus-stub