Quercus I2 79 



QUERCUS COCCIFERA, Kermes Oak 



Quercus coccifera, Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 1413 (1764); Loudon, Arb.*et Frut. Brit. iii. 1908 (1838); 



Mathieu, Flore Fores tiere, 387 (1897). 

 Quercus pseudococcifera, Desfontaines, Fl. Atl. ii. 349 (1799). 

 Quercus Mesto, Boissier, Voy. Bot. Esp. ii. 519, t. 166 (1845). 

 Quercus anodonta, Borbas, in Erdesz. Lap. xxvi. (1887). 



A shrub, usually 6 to 12 ft. high, occasionally becoming a small tree, rarely 

 exceeding 20 ft. in height. Young branchlets with scattered brown stellate 

 pubescence. Buds brown, ovoid, minute, glabrescent. Leaves (Plate 338, Fig. 62) 

 persistent two or three years, coriaceous, variable in size and shape, oval or oblong, 

 1 to 1^ in. long and f in. broad, acute or rounded at the apex, sub-cordate or 

 truncate at the base, wrinkled in margin, and with the upper surface concave ; with 

 four to eight pairs of minute teeth, each ending in a cartilaginous bristle ; glabrous 

 and shining green above and below ; petiole \ to \ in. long, stellate-pubescent. 



Fruit ripening in the second year, solitary or in pairs, sessile or shortly stalked ; 

 acorn cylindrical-ovoid, about an inch long, glabrous, shining ; cupule hemispheric, 

 \ to f in. wide, covered with tomentose spine-tipped scales, ovate to linear, and 

 very variable in breadth, thickness, and curvature. 



The above description applies to the typical form prevalent in the western part 

 of the Mediterranean region, but considerable variation occurs in the size and shape 

 of the leaves (which are occasionally entire) and of the cupules, cupule-scales, and 

 acorns. These differences appear to depend upon the vigour of the plant, and are 

 occasionally present upon the same individual ; and the numerous varieties which 

 have been named can scarcely be upheld. The following, however, are note- 

 worthy : 



1. Var. Auzandri, De Candolle, Prod. xvi. 2, p. 53 (1864). 



Quercus Auzandri, Grenier et Godron, Fl. France, iii. 119 (1855-6). 



Leaves (Plate 339, Fig. 65) more or less stellate-pubescent beneath. Cupules 

 small with scales flattened at the points. This is supposed by Fliche ' to be a hybrid 

 between Q. Ilex and Q. coccifera, and has been observed in the south of France and 

 in Algeria. 



2. \ r ar. pseudococcifera, Boissier, Flora Orientalis, iv. 11 69 (1879). 



Var. Calliprinos, Boissier, lot, cit. 



Quercus pseudococcifera, Labillardiere, Ic. PI. Syria, Dec. v. p. 9, t. 6 (18 12), (not Desfontaines), 2 



J. D. Hooker, in Trans. Linn. Soc. xxiii. 381, tt. 36, 37 (1862). 

 Quercus Calliprinos, Webb, //. Hisp. 15 (1838). 



The eastern form of the species, often a shrub, occasionally a large tree, 

 Leaves flat, scarcely concave or wrinkled, usually larger than in the type. Fruit 

 variable, but often larger than in the western form. 



1 In Mathieu, Flore Forestiire, 389 (1897). Albert et Jahandiez, Plant. Vas. du Var, 445, pi. xv. (1908), distinguish 

 four hybrids between Q. Ilex and Q. coccifera, all of which have been seen in the south of France. 



1 Q. pseudococcifera, Desfontaines, described from Algerian specimens, is absolutely identical with Q. coccifera. 



