''Quercus faginea'', the Portuguese oak, is a species of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

native to the western

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. Similar trees in the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

of northwest

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

are usually included in this species, or sometimes treated as a distinct species, ''Quercus tlemcenensis''. It occurs in mountains from sea level to above sea level, and flourishes in a variety of soils and climates. Out of all the oak forests in the Iberian Peninsula, the southern populations of Portuguese oak were found to have the highest diversity and

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

of spider species.

Description

''Q. faginea'' is a medium-sized

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, afte ...

or semi-evergreen

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated Plant stem, stem, or trunk (botany), trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondar ...

growing to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter, with grey-brown bark. The tree can live as long as 600 years. The

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

are long and 1.2–4 cm broad (rarely to 15 cm long and 5 cm broad), glossy dark green to gray-green above, and variably

felted A felted material is a hairy or filamentous (hairy-like) fibre that is densely packed or tangled, forming felt or felt-like structures. Anatomy and zoology The dermis is described in Gray's Anatomy as "felted connective tissue, with a vary ...

grey-white below; the margins have five to 12 pairs of irregular teeth. Leaf fall is typically in mid- to late winter. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s 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 ...

s, produced between March and April, almost always before holm oak, which grows in similar areas. The

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 ...

s are oblong-ovoid, 2–2.5 cm long, maturing in 6 months to disperse in September or October. The species commonly develops

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

s due to

gall wasp Gall wasps, also incorrectly called gallflies, are hymenopterans of the family Cynipidae in the wasp superfamily Cynipoidea. Their common name comes from the galls they induce on plants for larval development. About 1,300 species of this general ...

activity; the galls are brown, 1–2 cm diameter, and have a spongy, cork-like interior.CAB International (2005)
data on ''Quercus faginea'', Forestry Compendium
. Retrieved 27 July 2006. The two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are: Portuguese oak also hybridises readily with other related oaks such as Algerian oak (''Q. canariensis'') and

downy oak ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain (Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is also fou ...

(''Q. pubescens''), which can make identification difficult. The

specific Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...

name ''faginea'' refers to the superficial resemblance of the leaves to those of the

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

(''Fagus'').

Uses

The

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

has been used traditionally as firewood and as timber for construction (beams and posts). The acorns, like those of the holm oak or

cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the core ...

, are an important food for free-range black Iberian pigs reared for ''

jamón ibérico ''Jamón ibérico'' (; pt, presunto ibérico ), "Iberian ham" is a variety of '' jamón'' or '' presunto'', a type of cured leg of pork produced in Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal. Description According to Spain's '' denominació ...

'' production. It is also occasionally planted 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 ...

Gallery

Quercus faginea Archidona.jpg, ''Quercus faginea'' in wintertime Quercus faginea e bugalho.JPG, ''Quercus faginea'' subsp. ''broteroi''

References

External links

Jean Louis Helardot, Chênes: ''Quercus faginea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2432250 faginea Flora of North Africa Trees of Europe Trees of Mediterranean climate Drought-tolerant trees Plants described in 1785