Oaks of the World

General data Classifications List of species Local names Back to
home page

  Quercus libani
Author G.Olivier 1801 Voy. Emp. Othoman 2: 290
Synonyms carduchorum K.Koch 1849
serratifolia Benth. ex Petzh. & Kirchn. 1864
squarrosa Kotschy ex A.DC 1864
tchihatchewii Kotschy 1860
Local names Lebanon's oak;
Range Syria, Turkey, Asia Minor (in mountains); introduced in Europe in 1856 (in Great Britain); 700-2000 m;
Growth habit 10-20 m; sometimes less than 3 m;
Leaves 5-12 x 2-3 cm; deciduous or semi-evergreen; oblong to oblong-lanceolate; base rounded to subcordate; apex pointed; dark lustrous green adaxially; paler beneath, slightly pubescent at first, then glabrescent (seldom with a dense stellate indumentum); margin more or less regularly serrate; 10-16 vein pairs, each ending in a long mucronate (or aristate) tooth; petiole slender, 0.6-1 cm;
Flowers
Fruits acorn 2 cm long, apically truncate-flattened; peduncle short (less than 1 cm) and thick; enclosed 3/4 by cup; cup thick with long, recurved, tomentose scales; maturing in 2 years; basal scar flat or convex, large; 

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark dark grey with orangey-coloured furrows; young twig tomentose, often reddish-brown and glabrescent; twigs olive brown, rough, lenticellate; buds red brown, scaly; bud ca 3-4 mm, reddish-brown, oblong, ciliate;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; all types of soils;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 111;
-- Sub-genus Cerris, Section Cerris;
-- Slow growing; lives up to 100 years;
-- Despite its name, it does not exist in Lebanon ;

Subspecies and
varieties

--- This species is strongly variable concerning the leaves (pubescence of lower side), and cupule; in 1967, Djavanchir-Khoie described numerous new species in Lebanon, but they are actually synonyms of Q.libani.

--- var. angustifolia

--- var. regia (Lindl.) Boiss. 1879
= Q.regia Lindl. 1840 (A. Camus : n° 112) 
habit of a chesnut tree; bark smooth, fissured, dark brown; leaves deciduous 10-15 x 3.5-5 cm, slightly paler beneath than above, glabrous on both sides, margins with 9-12 vein pairs; acorn completely covered by cup;
for Govaerts & Frodin, it is a synonym of Q.libani.

--- Q.libani var. vesca : see Q.vesca ;

Pictures