''Quercus calliprinos'' is an
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 ''L ...
classified as part of the ''
Ilex
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
''
section
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* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
of the genus growing in the
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
zone, mainly on
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, in mid-elevations, often
dominating the flora, alongside terebinths (''
Pistacia terebinthus
''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...
'').
[Zohary, M. "The maquis of Quercus calliprinos in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan." Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel 9.2 (1960): 51-72.].
It is native to eastern
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
region and southwest
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, and grows in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
to
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
and further eastwards. In
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
it is called the common oak (, ) or the
Palestine oak.
''Quercus calliprinos'' was described by Webb in 1838. The name ''calliprinos'' derives from Ancient Greek, and means ‘beautiful oak’: κάλλος (''kallos'') = beauty + πρῖνος (''prinos'') a name for Holm Oak (''Q. ilex''). The common name Sindian Oak derives from the local Palestinian name (Stapf 1920).
Description
''Quercus calliprinos'' is a small to medium-sized
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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
or large
shrub reaching tall (often only 1–3 m tall where heavily browsed by
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s) and 1 m in trunk diameter. It is
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
, with spiny-serrated
leaves long and 1.5–3 cm broad. The
acorns are 3–4 cm long and 2–3 cm diameter when mature (about 18 months after pollination), held in a cup covered in dense, elongated, reflexed scales.
''Quercus calliprinos'' is closely related to the
Kermes oak
''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak, is an oak bush in the '' Ilex'' section of the genus. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Cyprus ...
(''Q. coccifera'') of the western Mediterranean, and is treated as a
subspecies or
variety
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of it by some botanists. The Kermes oak is distinguished from it by its smaller size (usually shrubby, not over ) and smaller acorns less than 2 cm diameter.
References
Palestine Oak in "Wildflowers of Israel"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2666806
calliprinos
Flora of North Africa
Trees of Mediterranean climate
Plants described in 1838