(Quercus pubescens Willd., nom. cons. prop.)
Habitus
- tree 7 - 15 m high, crown wide, spherical to umbrella-shaped
- in poor - extreme locations also as a shrub
- the bark is light brown, forming dark brown to blackish, solid, cubically cracked bork relatively early
- the trunks are often bent and the branches twisted
Buds
- the buds are arranged in a spiral, 4 - 6 x 3 - 4 mm in size, sessile, bluntly five-sided in cross-section, and clustered at the tip
- the scales are brown and felt-like!
Shoots
- they are olive green, later reddish-brown
- they are distinctly gray felted
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- they are simple, pinnately lobed (4 - 5 lobes), in basic shape inverted ovate
- they are 5 - 9 x 3 - 6 cm in size, widest in the upper third, rounded at the top, with a wedge-shaped to heart-shaped base
- young leaves are densely woolly, later becoming hairless on top, dark green, shiny
- the petiole is 0.5 - 2.0 cm long, densely woolly
- the leaves are stiff - leathery
Flowers
- the species is a monoecious woody plant with heterosexual flowers
- it blooms in April - May, and the flowers are morphologically similar to those of the summer oak
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is an ellipsoidal achene measuring 1.5 - 2.5 x 0.8 - 1.5 cm, found in a deep, woolly cup
- it ripens in the first year, from September to Octobe
- germination is low (only 20 - 50%).
Extension
- it was originally expanded in Southern Europe, mainly on the Balkan and Apennine Peninsulas and in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, in northern France, and also extends to the Caucasus and Asia Minor
- in Slovakia, it occurs in the warmest areas of southern Slovakia from the lowest positions up to approximately 560 m above the sea level (maximum 980 m above the sea level)
- it grows mainly on limestone substrates in forest-steppes with manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), downy oak (Quercus cerris), field maple (Acer campestre), smooth-leaved elm (Ulmus minor), cornel (Cornus mas), and other thermophilic species of plants
Ecology
- it is a light-loving and warmth-loving tree species resistant to drought
Significance
- soil conservation
- relatively rare (protected) tree species
- as a landscape element
