Mount Tabor oak

Description

Quercus ithaburensis, the Mount Tabor oak, is a tree in the beech family. It is found in Southeastern Europe, from southeastern Italy, southern Albania and Greece, and in southwestern Asia from Turkey south through Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and neighboring Jordan, whose national tree it is. Quercus ithaburensis is a small to medium-sized semi-evergreen to tardily deciduous tree growing to a maximum height of around 50 feet (15 m) with a rounded crown and often with a gnarled trunk and branches. The leaves are 1.6-3.5 in (4–9 cm) long and 0.8-2.0 in (2–5 cm) wide, oval in shape, with 7 to 10 pairs of either teeth (most common) or shallow lobes (rare) along a revolute margin. They are dark glossy green above and gray tomentose below. The male flowers are light green 2 in (5 cm) long catkins while the female flowers are small (less than 1/10 in (0.4 mm)), produced in 3's on short stalks called peduncles and are wind pollinated. Flowering occurs from March through April in most of its native range. The acorns are generally oval, up to 2 in (5 cm) long and 1.2 in (3 cm) wide with a cap covering roughly 1/3 of the acorn, maturing in 18 months, dropping from the tree in the 2nd fall after pollination. The cap is covered in long stiff loose scales which are rolled backwards or involute especially along the edges of the cap. An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus ("oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus (stone oaks), as well as in those of unrelated species such as Grevillea robusta (silky oaks) and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). The genus Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America has the largest number of oak species, with approximately 160 species in Mexico of which 109 are endemic and about 90 in the United States. The second greatest area of oak diversity is China, with approximately 100 species. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobate margins in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with smooth margins.