Oaks of the World

General data Classifications List of species Local names Back to
home page

  Quercus libani
Author G.Olivier 1801 Voy. Emp. Othoman 2: 290
Synonyms carduchorum K.Koch 1849
serratifolia Benth. ex Petzh. & Kirchn. 1864
squarrosa Kotschy ex A.DC 1864
tchihatchewii Kotschy 1860
Local names Lebanon's oak;
Range Syria, Turkey, Asia Minor (in mountains); introduced in Europe in 1856 (in Great Britain); 700-2000 m;
Growth habit 10-20 m; sometimes less than 3 m;
Leaves 5-12 x 2-3 cm; deciduous or semi-evergreen; oblong, oval-lanceolate or lanceolate; base rounded to subcordate, often asymmetrical; apex acuminate; margin more or less regularly serrate, with 9-14 pairs of teeth, each ending in a mucronate (or aristate), 3 mm long point; dark lustrous green adaxially; paler beneath, slightly pubescent at first, then glabrescent (seldom with a dense stellate indumentum); 9-14 vein pairs, raised abaxially; petiole slender, 0.6-1 cm, becoming glabrous;
Flowers male catkin slender, short, hairy; female catkin 0.5-1.5 cm long, tomentose, bearing 2 flowers;
Fruits acorn 2-3 cm long, cylindrical, apically truncate-flattened; peduncle short (less than 1 cm) and thick; enclosed 1/2 or 3/4 by cup; cup thick with long, recurved, tomentose scales, the scales around the rim erect, the scales near the base more appressed; basal scar flat or weakly convex, large;  maturing in 2 years;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark dark grey with orangey-coloured furrows; young twig tomentose, often reddish-brown and glabrescent; twigs olive brown, rough, lenticellate; buds red brown, scaly; bud ca 3-4 mm, reddish-brown, oblong, ciliate;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; all types of soils;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : tome 1, p. 517, n° 111;
-- Sub-genus Cerris, Section Cerris, subsection Libani (with afares and trojana);
-- Slow growing; lives up to 100 years;

Subspecies and
varieties

--- This species is strongly variable concerning the leaves (pubescence of lower side), and cupule; in 1967, Djavanchir-Khoie described numerous new species in Lebanon, but they are actually synonyms of Q.libani.

--- var. angustifolia

--- var. regia (Lindl.) Boiss. 1879
= Q.regia Lindl. 1840 (A. Camus : n° 112) 
habit of a chesnut tree; bark smooth, fissured, dark brown; leaves deciduous 10-20 x 3.5-5 cm, slightly paler beneath than above, glabrous on both sides, margins with 9-12 vein pairs; acorn completely covered by cup, with convex basal scar;
for Govaerts & Frodin, it is a synonym of Q.libani.

--- Q.libani var. vesca : see Q.vesca ;

Pictures