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.
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.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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