Quercus suber Bush
Origin: the Mediterranean Basin where it is a typical feature. The trunk and branches are covered in bark which is initially smooth and grey but soon becomes furrowed, spongy and unusually thick and in the 7th to 8th year it becomes cork. There are special cultivations where the cork is periodically stripped off (for commercial use) revealing the reddish colour of the trunk and bare branches. Leaves up to 5cm long, 2cm wide, ovate, leathery, with toothed-aculeate margins, dark green on the upper side, lanuginous and silvery underneath. Fruit: single acorn half protected in a squamous cupule. It has specific growing requirements: it does not tolerate temperature below –5° if prolonged and requires a good amount of humidity. The soil must be acid or sub-acid, not calcareous. Withstands any type of pruning and therefore is formed into various shapes: multistemmed, pompon, with a single twisted trunk and strange shaped crown etc.
