Holm oak
Quercus rotundifolia
Family · Fagaceae · Harmless
The other half of the montado, the one that takes heat where cork oak no longer can. A dense dark crown, a stiff spiny leaf, and the sweetest acorn in the Peninsula.
Montado · Scrubland · Uplands
Also known asevergreen oak, ballota oak
How to tell it
A small, hard leaf, often spiny along the margin, dark green above and grey-white beneath. Dark bark cracked into small squares. A rounded, dense crown.
What it is confused with
Cork oak
Quercus suber
The bark settles it in two seconds: cork oak's is spongy and gives under pressure, holm oak's is hard and cracked.
Open sheet →What it is for
The holm oak acorn is sweet and edible, roasted or raw, a tradition that survived in Portugal into the 20th century in years of hunger. Today it is mostly the base of Alentejo free-range pork.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
The law says
Legally protected in Portugal, like cork oak. Felling and cutting require authorisation.