Oaks of the World

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  Quercus castaneifolia
Author C.A.Meyer 1831 Verz. Pfl. Casp. Meer. 44 1831.
Synonyms aegilops L. var. castaneifolia (C.A.Mey.) K.Koch 1849
castaneifolia subsp aitchisoniana A.Camus 1934
castaneifolia subsp eucastaneifolia A.Camus 1938
sintenisiana O.Schwarz 1935
Local names chesnut leaf oak; palout; Kabyl's afares;
Range Iran; Caucasus; South and Southwest of Caspian Sea; mounts of Algeria;
Growth habit reaches 30 m tall; crown broadly conical; limbs straight, stout, somewhat swollen near trunk;
Leaves 8-20 x 5-9 cm; variable in size; deciduous; oblong elliptic; apex acuminate; base cordate or cuneate ; shiny dark green, glabrous above; tawny pubescent beneath, becoming glabrous; midrib yellow; 9-14 pairs of lateral veins, ending in triangular, blunt, mucronate teeth; petiole light green, pubescent, 2-4 cm long;
Flowers
Fruits acorn ovoid or ellipsoid, 2 cm long; hemispherical cup with elongated and recurving scales, covering 1/2 of nut;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark first black and smooth, becoming grey with orangish furrows; twigs dark brown with white lenticels; terminal bud 1 cm long, lateral ones 0.5 cm;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; all types of soils; very fast growing;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 117 ;
-- Sub-genus Cerris, Section Cerris, sub-section Cerris (with look, cerris and euboica);
-- Rare;
-- The triangular, somewhat blunt teeth set it apart from
Q.libani whose teeth are pointed;

Subspecies and
varieties

-- one cultivar : 'Green Spire', columnar and compact, 18 m tall, fast growing; cultivated since 1948;

-- hybrid with Q. cerris ;

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