General data | Classifications | List of species | Local names | Back
to home page |
Quercus canariensis | |
Author | Willd. 1809 Enum. Pl. 975 1809. |
Synonyms | lusitanica Lam.
var. salzmanniana Webb 1838 mirbeckii Durieu 1847 lusitanica Lam. var. mirbeckii (Durieu) A.DC 1864 gibraltarica K.Koch 1873 lusitanica Lam. subsp. mirbeckii (Durieu) Ball 1878 faginea Lam. var. salzmanniana (Webb) Samp. 1910 carpinifolia Sennen 1926 non Raf.1838 viveri Sennen 1928 faginea Lam. var. mirbeckii (Durieu) Maire 1932 salzmanniana (Webb) Coutinho 1935 nordafricana H.Villar 1938 canariensis Willd. var. mirbeckii (Durieu) C.Vicioso 1950 canariensis Willd. var. salzmanniana (Webb) C.Vicioso 1950 |
Local names | Mirbeck's
oak; chêne zéen ; chêne zan; Kabylie'oak; Canarian oak; Algerian oak;
quejigo africano; |
Range | East and South Spain; Algeria, Morocco (in mountains); Tunisia; 700-1000 m; |
Growth habit | 20-30 m tall; trunk to 1 m in diameter; wide spreading crown; |
Leaves | 6-18 x 4-9 cm; semi-evergreen; oboval to oblong-oboval, seldom subelliptical; young leaves woolly tomentose, with thin, long, tawny, fascicled, never stellate, free, loose hairs; then glabrous except at vein axils; adult leaves dull dark green, nearly hairless above; glaucous beneath with brownish hairs along midrib; base subcordate, sometimes auricled; margin with 7-14 pairs of shallow, toothed lobes; 11-14 pairs of parallel, raised lateral veins, diverging from midrib at less than 32°; no intercalary veins; tertiary veins conspicuous ; only one layer of epidermic cells (0.1-0.2 mm thick); petiole 1.5-2.5 cm, dark pinkish, pubescent at first, soon glabrous; winter leaves in part green, in part brown; |
Flowers | between April and May; male catkins 4-8 cm long; pistillate flowers on short pedicel; perianth pubescent, with 6 short lobes; 3-4 styles |
Fruits | acorn 2.5-3.5 cm, ovoid cylindrical; short-stalked (0.5-1 cm); in clusters of 2-3; enclosed 1/3 by the cup; cup hemispherical with tomentose, lanceolate, bulging scales; mature in one year; |
Bark, twigs and |
bark blackish, fissured, thick; twigs grey green, first densely pubescent, then smooth and glabrous; bud narrowly conical, 7 mm long, with pale brown scales covered with white hairs; |
Hardiness zone, habitat | hardy; prefers calcareous soils, even heavy and clayey; fast growing; reaches 300 years and more; in cultivation, fertile seeds are generally hybrids with Q.robur (= Q. x carrissoana); |
Miscellaneous |
-- A. Camus : tome 2, p. 150, n° 149; -- The natural hybrids of Q. canariensis are
: |
Subspecies and varieties |
Species rather polymorphous,
so several varieties have been described: _ var. salzmanianna: leaves 12 cm long, elliptic, elongated, flat, very leathery, with margins slightly wavy; _ var. mirbeckii: leaves 20 cm long and more, oblong, base attenuate, margin wavy with numerous lobes, petiole 4 cm long; _ var. carpinifolia: leaves 8 cm long, elliptic-oboval or obtriangular, with pointed lobes; _ var. elongata: leaves 10 x 2-4 cm, narrow, with whitish fasciate hairs below; 5 short (less than 1 cm), round lobes each side; 4-8 vein pairs; petiole 1.2-1.5 cm long, hairy; bud oboval, light tawny, 7 x 5 cm; _ var. fissa: few, pointed lobes with sinuses reaching halfway to midrib; _ var. ovata: leaves oval, 7 x 4-5 cm, petiole 4 cm long; _ var. pseudocastanea: leaves resembling those or chestnut; _ var. suborbicularis: leaves 15 x 10 cm, elliptic; few, shallow, regular lobes; |
Pictures |
|