Quercus cerris

:"The name Turkey Oak is also commonly used in this form for the American Turkey Oak ("Quercus laevis")."Taxobox
name = Turkey Oak
status = LC

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Turkey Oak foliage
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fagales
familia = Fagaceae
genus = "Quercus"
sectio = "Cerris"
species = "Q. cerris"
binomial = "Quercus cerris"
binomial_authority = L.

The Turkey Oak ("Quercus cerris") which is often alternatively called Turkish Oak, is an oak native to southern 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.

It is a large deciduous tree growing to 25-40 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m diameter. The bark is dark grey and deeply furrowed. The glossy leaves are 7-14 cm 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 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 4-8 mm long 'mossy' bristles. The acorns are very bitter, but are eaten by jays and pigeons; squirrels usually only eat them when other food sources have run out.

Cultivation and uses

The species' range extended to northern Europe and the British Isles before the previous ice age, about 120,000 years ago. Reintroduced in the United Kingdom and in Ireland in the eighteenth century, its gall wasps now provide early food for birds. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7566522.stm BBC News, " Ancient tree helps birds survive", 17 August 2008] Accessed 18 August 2008.]

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. 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. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Variegata', a variegated cultivar, and 'Woden', with large, deeply-lobed leaves.

Hybrids

Turkey Oak readily hybridises with Cork Oak ("Q. suber"), the resulting hybrid being named "Q. × hispanica" Lam. (Spanish Oak). 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 [http://www.arboretum.sav.sk/index2.htm Mlyňany Arboretum] in Slovakia, home of the late Count Ambrozy; 'Diversifolia', with the leaves are 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> [ [http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/plants/trees/lucombeoak.html Lucombe Oak] ; [http://www.the-tree.org.uk/BritishTrees/TreeGallery/oaklucc.htm pictures and history] .]

See also

*Knopper gall
*Oak Marble gall

Notes