Oaks of the World

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  Quercus pyrenaica
Author Willd. 1805 Sp. Pl. 4: 451
Synonyms brossa Bosc 1808
toza var. pyrenaica (Willd.) Wenz. 1886
toza Gillet ex Bosc 1792, nom. inval.
tauza Desf. 1815
tauzin Pers. 1807
tavaresi Sampaio
stolonifera Lapeyr. 1813
humilis DC in Lam. 1805, nom. illeg.
Local names Chêne des Pyrénées; chêne tauzin; roble melojo; rebollo; quejigo;
Range Atlantic Coast (France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco); 400-1600 m;
Growth habit to 40 m tall, with trunk 0.8 m in diameter; trunk twisted; crown open, domed; the branches are sometimes rather pendulous and the garden epithet pendula is sometimes applied to these trees;
Leaves

8-20 x 4-12 cm; deciduous; thick, pubescent; oblong, pinnatifide; apex slightly pointed; base cuneate; 6 pairs (and more) of irregular, lobulate lobes, deep narrow sinuses reaching halfway to the midrib ; grey green or greyish; covered above with fasciculate hairs; whitish fasciculate hairs beneath (stalk 40-6 µm, 4-8 rays 500-1000 µm long) ; 4-9 pairs of secondary sinuous veins, diverging at more than 37° from midrib ; midrib strongly raised underneath; petiole densely hairy, 0.8-2 cm long;
Flowers long (3-8 cm), numerous, rich yellow male catkins in May; female catkins short, few-flowered;
Fruits acorn small, ovoid oblong; 2 to 4 on a peduncle to 3 cm long, or sessile; enclosed 1/3 by cup; cup pubescent, with pointed, appressed scales; maturing in 6 months in October-November;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark grey deeply furrowed into small square scales; twigs reddish green, densely pubescent when young, becoming grey green; buds ovoid pale brown, hairy;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; prefers acidic soils, even poor and dry; long lived;
Miscellaneous -- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Series Roburoid;
-- A.Camus n° 127
-- Very rare outside its typical range;
-- The natural hybrids of Q. pyrenaica are : Q. x andegavensis, Q. x cantabrica, Q. x diosdadoi, Q. x firmurensis, Q. x fontqueri, Q. x paui, Q. x trabutii, Q. x welwitschii

Subspecies and
varieties

1/ Several forms and varieties are described in Spain :
--fo. brachyloba (Borzi) Schwarz, with lobes unlobulate and shallow sinuses;
-- fo pinnatipartita C. Vicioso, with leaves quite laciniate;
-- var. expansa, with acorns and cups broader, stylopodium wider;

2/ The taxon Q. pubescens subspecies palensis (Palassou) O.Schwarz 1936, considered by Govaerts & Frodin as synonym of Q. pyrenaica, is for C. Vicioso a hybrid between Q. pubescens and Q. cerrioides.

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