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The small fruit is set quite deeply into a eupule that bristles with stiff, open woody points. 



Flowers: I've seen it flowering in May in the south of France, 



Range: southern France. I've seen it used to make a living hedge to separate fields 

 from the highway between Avignon and Vaucluse. 



Nomenclature. The name coccifera comes from coccus {Translator's note: the 

 Latin word coccum refers to the berry of the scarlet oak, Quercus coccifera] and from 

 fero, to bear, because from this small oak tree insects were gathered called scarlet seeds 

 because of the colored dye extracted from them [Translator's note: one of the oldest dyes 

 known]. The Arabs call it qermez, meaning a little worm in Arabic, and qermezy, the red 

 color that it produces, which is where we get our word crimson. The word even was 

 pronounced kermezy in former times. Our word vermilion comes from vermiculus 

 [Translator's note: a little worm], the name the Romans gave to this insect. The kermes 

 oak tree in German is called die kermeseiche. Dutch, kermeshoom. Italian, elce, elcina. 

 Spanish, encina, encina verde. Portuguese, azinheiro, azinho. 



Uses. In certain regions of the south of France the bark of the kermes oak is used 

 for tanning leather. The insect that gives this species of oak tree its distinction, (Coccus 

 ilicis [Translator's note: now also Kermes ilicis |) attaches itself to the young branches 

 from which it derives its nourishment. When fully grown it's shaped like a little brown 

 ball the size of a pea and covered with a white powder. The insects are collected as such 

 and are sold to pharmacists who make the kermes syrup that's used medicinally as a 

 tonic. The kermes insect also is tossed into vinegar, left to die, and later taken out and 

 dried. It yields a red dye that becomes very bright when it's developed with alum. It's also 

 very substantial, and it can be spread on fabric. 



The bites of certain insects cause a particular kind of swelling that's called gallnut 

 on several species of oak tree. This material formerly was thought to be a valuable cure. 

 Hippocrat es used it externally for disorders of the womb, and Galen cured recurrent 

 fevers by administering it in a dose of an eighth of an ounce. Nowadays it's rarely used in 

 medicine 



