Quercus coccifera Linnaeus, 1753
Common names: Kermes Oak [En], Chêne des Garrigues, Chêne kermès, Chêne à cochenille [Fr], Hulsteik [Nl], Kermes-Eiche [De], Quercia spinosa [It], Chaparro, Coscoja [Es], Πουρνάρι, Πρίνος, Περνιά, Δρυς η κοκκοφόρος [Gr], Kırmız meşesi [Tu]
Galatas, TRIZINA ● Greece
Etymology: The Kermes Oak was historically important as the food plant of the Kermes scale insect, from which a red dye called crimson was obtained. The etymology of the specific name “coccifera” is related to the production of red cochineal (crimson) dye and derived from a diminutive of Latin coccinus which was from Greek κόκκινος | kokkinos (= the kermes bug). The Latin -fera means “bearer”.
Description: Shrub less 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall, rarely a small tree, reaching 1–6 metres (3.3–20 ft) tall and 50 cm trunk diameter. It is evergreen, with spiny-serrated coriaceous leaves 1.5–4 cm long and 1–3 cm broad. The acorns are 2–3 cm long and 1.5–2 cm diameter when mature about 18 months after pollination. They are held in a cup covered in dense, elongated, reflexed scales.
Biology: It blooms from March to May in weather still wet. It is easily propagated by seed (an acorn). The acorns waiting for wet weather to mature. It can survive heavy sheep and goat grazing for long periods as a ground carpet a few centimeters high.
Habitat: It is an important part of the mediterranean bush or dwarf vegetation, to which often it gives name (Maquis, Maquis shrubland, Coscojar, Garrigue, Carrascal, Chaparral, Scrubland, etc).
It is indifferent to chemistry of soils, living on calcareous, pebbly, stony and poor soils. A lover of warm weather, it starts to miss from the 1000 above sea level. It is capable of supporting the continental Mediterranean climate with extreme temperatures and low rainfall, replacing to Quercus ilex (Holm oak) in drier areas where it excels in drought resistance. It also grows in sea cliffs and windy areas where other species of Quercus or Pinus cannot grow by the harshness of the weather.
Distribution: It is located for almost all the Mediterranean Sea, especially in central and southern and eastern halves, missing almost always on elevated and inland regions, with the exception of the semi-arid interior of the Ebro Valley (200 m above sea level) where it is the dominant species. It is native to Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Turkey, crossing Spain, Italy, Libya, Balkans, Greece, Mediterranean islands including Cyprus, etc.
References:
Wikipedia, Quercus coccifera
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