In the coastal hills, solitary cork oak

1997/12/01 Terés, Joxepo Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Botanika
• Ingurumena

In the previous issue we met the cork oak family and this time we will be able to analyze the genus Quercus, well known in Euskal Herria. Within this genus trees or trees appear. The leaves are multiform and expired or persistent.

It houses about 300 species, distributed mainly in the temperate and warm regions of the Northern Hemisphere. On the other hand, of the 12 species known on the peninsula, 9 are among us, and as far as this genus is concerned, we must say that hybridization and introgression are frequent. For example, in the peninsula there are 22 hybrids.

The cork oak tree is a 25 m tall wide top tree. Its main characteristic is the thick trunk and the fluffy and cracked skin, the cork. Its leaves are dark green and somewhat bright at the top. At the bottom, covered with tomato. Leather goods, obatu-luzanga and permanent. Small male flowers and lentils.

They concentrate on the ends of the jet. The females, on the other hand, are of short cane and grouped in very small groups, appear above all in new shoots of great strength. It blooms mainly in April-May. The fruits are acorns and ripen in the early autumn or winter of the same year. Sometimes, delaying its flowering, acorns also arrive in spring. It is a species of Mediterranean and west-Atlantic regions, but its cultivation since ancient times makes it difficult to define well its original distribution area. In Euskal Herria it appears in the coastal hills and is quite scarce. The siliceous soil has ocular predominance. Those located between Zarautz and Getaria stand out. Also those of the mouth of the river Aturri.

Its bark, cork, is used in the industrial industry (industry of insulating materials, stoppers and footwear, for example). It is a good belligerent and has great importance for the swine cabin in the southwest peninsular. It has been used as a medicinal herb and its skin is dry.

Family: fagaceae Species: Distribution of Quercus suber: rare and localized Habitat: coastal medicinal soil: siliceous yes