Kermes oak
Quercus coccifera
Family · Fagaceae · Harmless
The oak that gave up on being a tree. A low, tough, spiny shrub dominating the limestone of the centre and south, surviving fire, goats and drought without complaint.
Scrubland · Montado · Uplands
Also known askermes oak
How to tell it
A small, hard leaf, glossy green on both sides, with a spiny margin like a miniature holly. The acorn cup is covered in outward-curving scales.
What it is confused with
Holm oak
Quercus rotundifolia
Turn the leaf over: holm oak is grey-white beneath, kermes oak is glossy green on both sides. And kermes oak hardly ever gets beyond shrub size.
What it is for
Firewood and charcoal, and for centuries host to the insect from which kermes crimson was extracted, one of medieval Europe's costliest reds. Hence coccifera.
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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