''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

native to south-eastern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. It is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and

acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

s that usually mature in 18 months.

Description

''Quercus cerris'' is a large deciduous

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

growing to tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * 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) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

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

are 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

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are wind-pollinated

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''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...

s, maturing about 18 months after pollination; the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a large

, 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 in length. File:Quercus cerris.JPG, Mature Turkey oak at Hillersdon House, England File:Turkey Oak at Spier's.JPG, A Turkey oak coming into leaf File:quercetum frainetto-cerris.jpg, Hungarian oak-Turkey oak (''Quercetum frainetto-cerris'' Rud) forest in the Balkans File:Turkey oak grove.jpg, Turkey oak grove,

Lončanik Lončanik is a village in the municipality of Ub, Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map ...

village, Central Serbia File:Saçlı meşe-2.JPG, Foliage File: Quercus cerris1.jpg, Turkey oak leaf showing variation in lobing File:Quercus cerris 5.jpg, Acorns with 'hairy' cups Quercus cerris MHNT.BOT.2021.17.5.jpg, Turkey oak dried fruits and seeds

Ecology and cultivation

First year acorns are very bitter, but are eaten by

jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

s and

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

s 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, its gall wasps now provide early food for birds. The tree harbours the gall wasp '' Andricus quercuscalicis'' whose larvae seriously damage the acorns of native British oaks. In 1998, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

ordered the felling of all Turkey oaks on its

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the ed ...

. Several

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been selected, including 'Variegata', a

variegated '' Cryptocarya williwilliana'' showing leaf venation and variegated leaves Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the foliage, flowers, and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants, granting a speckled, striped, or patch ...

cultivar, and 'Woden', with large, deeply lobed leaves. Turkey oak readily hybridises with

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

(''Q. suber''), the resulting

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

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 Heterosis, hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement is the improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring. An offspring is heterotic if its traits are enhanced as a result of mixing the genetic contributions o ...

; 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 Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, 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 Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

c.1760; and 'Lucombeana' (Lucombe oak), raised by

William Lucombe William Lucombe (before 1720 – after 1785) was a horticulturalist and nurseryman, who discovered and gave his name to the natural hybrid Lucombe Oak (''Quercus × hispanica'' 'Lucombeana'), a semi-deciduous oak tree. The Lucombe nursery William ...

at his nursery in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

1762. An early specimen raised by Lucombe is at the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. A similar Lucombe oak was felled by fungus and a light wind in Phear Park,

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

15 February 2009.

Uses

The

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

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.

References

External links

''Quercus cerris''
- information, genetic conservation units and related resources.

European Forest Genetic Resources Programme European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) is an international network that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe as an integral part of sustainable forest management. It was established ...

(EUFORGEN) {{Taxonbar, from=Q157277 cerris Ornamental trees Trees of mild maritime climate Trees of Mediterranean climate Trees of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Lebanon

Description

Ecology and cultivation

Uses

See also

References

External links