Portuguese oak

Appearance

''Quercus faginea'' is a medium-sized deciduous or semi-evergreen tree growing to 20 meters tall, with a trunk up to 80 cm in diameter, with grey-brown bark. The tree can live as long as 600 years. The leaves are 4–10 cm long and 1.2–4 cm broad , glossy dark green to grey-green above, and variably felted grey-white below; the margins have 5-12 pairs of irregular teeth. Leaf fall is typically in mid to late winter. The flowers are catkins, produced between March and April, almost always before Holm oak, which grows in similar areas. The acorns are oblong-ovoid, 2–2.5 cm long, maturing in 6 months to disperse in September or October.

Naming

There are two subspecies:
⤷  ''Quercus faginea'' subsp. ''faginea''. Iberian Peninsula.
⤷  ''Quercus faginea'' subsp. ''broteroi'' A.Camus . Northwest Africa and South-West of the Iberian Peninsula.

Portuguese oak also hybridises readily with other related oaks such as Algerian oak and downy oak , which can make identification difficult.

The scientific name ''faginea'' refers to the superficial resemblance of the leaves to those of the beech .

Predators

The species commonly develops galls due to gall wasp activity; the galls are brown, 1–2 cm diameter, and have a spongy, cork-like interior.

Uses

The wood has been used traditionally as firewood and as timber for construction . The acorns, like those of the cork oak, are an important food for free-range black Iberian pigs reared for jamón Ibérico production. It is also occasionally planted as an ornamental tree.