(Quercus polycarpa Schur)
Habitus
- it is a tree reaching a height of 25 – 30 m, slimmer than the winter oak with a looser crown
- in open space it branches out (like all oaks)
- the bork is medium thick, less firm than that of the summer oak, longitudinally cracked, the cracks are narrow.
Buds
- spiral arrangement, clustered at the end
- buds are egg-shaped to cone-shaped with blunt tips, 5 -10 mm long
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- leaves are simple, pinnately lobed (7 – 11 lobes and 7 – 11 pairs of veins)
- leaves are elliptical in overall outline, widest in the middle or in the upper half
- they are distinctly petiolate, petiole is 15 – 35 mm
- blade is firm, leathery, dark green and shiny on the upper side, the cross-section of the leaf petiole is semicircular
Flowers
- they are similar to the English oak (Quercus petraea)
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is an acorn in a cupule
- acorns (the nuts) are at the ends of the twigs in groups of (2 -) 5 - 6, ± sitting, deeply indented at the top
- the cupule is wide, bowl-shaped, the lower part of the cupule is warty
Extension
- southeastern Europe, from southern Moravia (rarely appears in Bohemia, for example in Opočno and Roudnice nad Labem) through Austria, Slovakia, the Balkan Peninsula, and Turkey to the Caucasus
- it grows in our country in southern and central Slovakia, both as scattered individuals and forms pure stands, especially in hilly areas with Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) on crystalline rocks (Slovak Ore Mountains, Slovak Central Mountains, Tribeč, Cerová Highlands, eastern Slovakia)
Ecology
- it is light and warmth-loving tree species with requirements similar to those of the winter oak, but it is more heat-loving and more adaptable to drier habitats
- it tolerates not only neutral but also acidic soils well
Significance
- the wood is of high quality, heartwood - similar to that one of the winter oak
