Quercus cerris - Turkey Oak

General Information Common Name  Turkey Oak Scientific Name  Quercus cerris Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  25-40 m (90-150 ft) Spread  10 -15 m (40 - 50 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Late Spring Color  Green, Red Flower Color  Yellow Type  Tree Native  Europe, USA

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Hamamelididae Order/  Fagales Family  Fagaceae – Beech family Genus  Quercus L. – Oak Species  Q. cerris

Quercus cerris - Turkey Oak

Quercus cerris common name is Turkey Oak also called European Turkey Oak is a wide-crowned tree with ascending lanky limbs and branches, deeply lobed leaves, mossy-cupped acorns and curious bark.

The twigs are brown, with a knobbly look and carry spiral, alternate, brown winter buds which are small and downy, almost hidden by the long persistent stipules. The leaves vary in size and in their deep and saw-tooth-like lobes. Their upper surface is dull green, the lower much paler in color. They persist on the trees later than those on European native oaks. This is Deciduous tree.

The flowers of both sexes appear on the same tree in May. The long pendent tassel-like male catkins are greenish-yellow, so too are the short-stalked female flowers. The acorn, with its mossy-covered, rather shallow cup, takes two years in which to ripen.

The bark is rough, dark grey and fissured. A distinct swelling occurs both at the junction of the ascending branches with the trunk, and on the twigs. The wood, though heavy, is prone to warping and shrinkage; few merchants will purchase it, thus reducing its use to little but firewood. This inferiority is unfortunate, because the tree grows faster and straighter than all European other hardwoods except poplar, willow and ash.

In 1765 a remarkable hybrid between Turkey Oak and the Cork Oak, Q. suber L., was raised by an Exeter nurseryman named Lucombe. This Lucombe Oak, Q. ´ hispanica ‘Lucombeana’, forms a magnificent park tree, with leaves like the Turkey Oak but dark green above and also more or less evergreen, some have a grey, corky bark.

Quercus cerris - Turkey Oak

Quercus cerris - Turkey Oak : Young Plant

Quercus cerris - Turkey Oak

Quercus cerris - European Turkey Oak : Leaves

European Turkey Oak : Flowers

European Turkey Oak : Fruits

European Turkey Oak : Fruits

European Turkey Oak : Rep Fruits

European Turkey Oak : Bark

European Turkey Oak : Log

European Turkey Oak : In Autumn

European Turkey Oak : Full Tree

European Turkey Oak

European Turkey Oak : Oak Pod