Quercus pubescens

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Downy oak
Quercus pubescens Tuscany.jpg
A mature tree
Quercus pubescens 1.jpg
Leaves
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus subg. Quercus
Section: Quercus sect. Quercus
Species:
Q. pubescens
Binomial name
Quercus pubescens
Quercus pubescens range.svg
Distribution map
Synonyms
List
  • Eriodrys lanataRaf.
  • Quercus adjectaGand.
  • Quercus admixtaGand.
  • Quercus aegilopsMill.
  • Quercus amplifoliaGuss.
  • Quercus appeninaLam.
  • Quercus asperaBosc
  • Quercus asperataPers.
  • Quercus bacunensisVuk.
  • Quercus banjaEndl.
  • Quercus bellojocensisGand.
  • Quercus brachylobaJord.
  • Quercus brachyphyllaKotschy
  • Quercus brachyphylloidesVuk.
  • Quercus brandisii(Vuk.) Vuk.
  • Quercus brevifoliaKotschy ex A.DC.
  • Quercus buccaranaVuk.
  • Quercus budayanaHaberle ex Heuff.
  • Quercus budensis(Borbás) Borbás
  • Quercus collinaSchleich. ex Endl.
  • Quercus conglomerataPers.
  • Quercus croaticaVuk.
  • Quercus cupaniana]Guss.
  • Quercus dalmaticaRadic
  • Quercus diversifronsBorbás
  • Quercus erythrolepis(Vuk.) Vuk.
  • Quercus humilisMill.
  • Quercus ilicifoliaKoord. & Valeton ex Seemen
  • Quercus lacinifoliaVuk.
  • Quercus laciniosaBoreau
  • Quercus lanuginosa(Lam.) Thuill.
  • Quercus macrostipulataGuss. ex Parl.
  • Quercus menesiensisKit.
  • Quercus microbalanosBoreau
  • Quercus microlepisVuk.
  • Quercus oxycarpaRaddi
  • Quercus pinnatifidaC.C.Gmel.
  • Quercus pseudoaegilopsisPetz. & G.Kirchn.
  • Quercus rufaVuk.
  • Quercus schulzei(Vuk.) Vuk.
  • Quercus sectifoliaVuk.
  • Quercus stenolepisVuk.
  • Quercus subspicata(A.Camus) C.Vicioso
  • Quercus sulcataVuk.
  • Quercus susedanaVuk.
  • Quercus tenorei(A.DC.) Borzí
  • Quercus torulosa(Vuk.) Raddi
  • Quercus virgiliana(Ten.) Ten.
  • Quercus vukotinociciiBorbás
  • Quercus anatolicaO.Schwarz
  • Quercus crispataSteven
  • Quercus subpyrenaicaVillar

Quercus pubescens (synonyms virgiliana), commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak (genus Quercus sect. Quercus) native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It is found from northern Spain (Pyrenees) and France in the West to Turkey and the Caucasus in the East.

Contents

Description

Quercus pubescens cross section Quercus pubescens coupe MHNT.jpg
Quercus pubescens cross section

Quercus pubescens is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing up to 20 metres (66 feet). [2] Forest-grown trees grow tall, while open-growing trees develop a very broad and irregular crown. They are long-lived, to several hundred years, and eventually grow into very stout trees with trunks up to 2 m (6+12 ft) in diameter. Open-grown trees frequently develop several trunks. The bark is very rough, light gray and divided into small flakes. Large trees develop very thick whitish bark cracked into deep furrows, similar to the pedunculate oak but lighter in colour.

The twigs are light purple or whitish, with tomentum. The buds are small (3–6 millimetres or 1814 inch) and blunt, light brown. The leaves are leathery usually 4–10 centimetres (1+12–4 in) long (rarely to 13 cm) and 3–6 cm wide, usually widest beyond the middle. The leaves group at the ends of twigs. The upper leaf surface is dark green and rough, the lower light green. Both leaf surfaces are covered with minute pubescence which is sometimes lost in older leaves by late summer. The young expanding leaves are whitish or pinkish with very soft tomentum. The leaf shape is very variable, divided into 3–7 pairs of deep or shallow lobes, which are usually divided into a few sublobes. The lobes are usually blunt, rarely sharp. The apex is usually wide and round. The base of the leaf is heart shaped, widely rounded or sometimes pointed. The petioles are 4–15 mm (rarely to 22 mm) long, stout and pubescent. The leaves are persistent late into the autumn, remaining green up to early winter. They eventually turn russet or brown and fall off.

The Quercus pubescens acorns are light brown to yellow, 8–20 mm long, usually thin and pointed. The acorn cups are light gray to almost white, with pointed, overlapping scales, covered with tomentum. The acorn stalks are thick and pubescent, up to 2 cm long. The acorns usually occur in groups of 2–5 on the same stalk.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are accepted by Flora Europaea:

Habitat

Downy oaks typically grow in dry, lime-rich soils. It is a sub-Mediterranean species, growing from the coastline to deep in the continent. Its optimum is in transitional Mediterranean-oceanic climates, characterized by warm to hot, dry summers and cool (though not mild) winters with ample precipitation.

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References

  1. Jerome, D.; Vazquez, F. (2018). "Quercus pubescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  2. "Quercus pubescens". oaksoftheworld.fr. Oaks of the World. Retrieved April 4, 2023.