Alder-leaved oak
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Alder-leaved oak ( Quercus alnifolia ) |
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| Quercus alnifolia | ||||||||||||
| Poech |
The alder-leaved oak ( Quercus alnifolia ) is an evergreen deciduous tree from the genus of oaks ( Quercus ), which is native to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus . The species belongs to the endemic flora of the island and occurs exclusively on eruptive rocks of the Troodos Mountains . In February 2006 the alder-leaved oak was declared the national tree of Cyprus by a resolution of the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
description
The alder-leaved oak is a heavily branched shrub or small tree with a broad crown that can reach heights of up to 10 meters. The bark is gray with vertical cracks. In the first year the twigs are densely grayish, star-haired and tomentose, later they become bald. The buds are tiny, bluntly egg-shaped and tomentose. The simple leaves are thick, stiff and leathery. The egg-shaped to rounded leaf blades are 1.5 to 6 (maximum 10) cm long and 1 to 5 (maximum 8) cm wide. The upper side of the leaf is glossy dark green, the underside thickly gold-colored (English common name "Golden Oak") to brownish tomentose hair, with protruding central and side veins, the leaf edge is completely or more or less clearly serrated. The strong petioles are 6 to 10 mm long and have star-haired tomentose hairs. The deciduous, membranous stipules are about 6 mm long.
The flowers are unisexual. The protruding to pendulous male catkins are grouped in tight clusters at the ends of the branches. They are thin, 5 to 8 cm long, with a star-haired, felty stem and an inflorescence axis. The male flowers stand individually or in groups of two to three, which are approached or separated from each other. The female flowers, individually or in groups of two or three, are seated or have a short stalk in the leaf axils. The short, gray-felted fruit cup is densely covered with linear, strongly recessed scales. The acorns, often narrowed towards the bottom, are narrow, obverse-shaped to almost cylindrical and about 2 to 2.5 cm long and 0.8 to 1.2 cm wide.
Taxonomy
Quercus alnifolia was first described by Joseph Poech in 1842 . It belongs to the Cerris section , as do most of the Mediterranean evergreen oak species. Hybridization with the Kermes oak ( Quercus coccifera subsp. Calliprinos ) occurs occasionally in nature.
Distribution and location
The alder-leaved oak grows exclusively on the ophiolithic geological formation of the Troodos Mountains at altitudes of 400 to 1,800 m. They settled either dry habitats in association with Pinus brutia in association Querco alnifoliae-Pinetum brutiae or forms dense maquis of association Crepido fraasii-Quercetum alnifoliae on-moist sites with deep soils.
Ecological importance and protective measures
The alder-leaved oak colonizes stony and rocky mountain slopes, where it has an erosion-inhibiting effect. In its range, Quercus alnifolia is the most important deciduous tree species that forms forest stands. Most of the Cypriot forests are made up of conifer species such as Pinus brutia . In dense Quercus alnifolia macchia, the moisture balance is significantly favored and deep soils with mull humus are created where shade - bearing herbs can grow.
The species is protected by the Cyprus Forest Act. The habitat “Shrub and low forest vegetation with Quercus alnifolia (9310)” is a type of habitat to be protected with priority (Directive 92/43 / EEC), for whose conservation special protected areas must be designated. Extensive forest areas are proposed for inclusion in the European ecological network Natura 2000 of the European Union.
Image gallery
Stocks on a stony slope at Madari Summit, Troodos Mountains
A taller shrub within a pine stand near Karvounas, Troodos Mountains
A compact shrub at the summit of Kionia, Troodos Mountains
Top of sheet
Leaf top and bottom
Leaf underside
Acorns
Individual evidence
- ^ Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Forestry Department (Ed.): The National Tree of Cyprus. Nicosia 2007, PDF ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ A b Robert Desmond Meikle : Flora of Cyprus. Volume Two (Valerianaceae to Polypodiaceae) . Bentham-Moxon Trust & Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London 1985, ISBN 0-9504876-4-3 , pp. 1481-1482 .
- ↑ Joseph Poech: Enumeratio plantarum hucusque cognitarum insulae Cypri. Karl Ueberreuter, Vienna 1842, pp. 12–13, preview in the Google book search.
- ↑ Charalambos Neophytou, G. Palli, FA Aravanopoulos: Morphological differentiation and hybridization between Quercus alnifolia Poech and Quercus coccifera L. (Fagaceae) in Cyprus . In: Silvae Genetica . tape 56 , no. 6 , 2007, p. 271-277 ( bfafh.de [PDF]). PDF ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Maurizio Merlo: Valuing Mediterranean Forests: Towards Total Economic Value . CABI, 2005, ISBN 0-85199-997-2 , pp. 217 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Marcel Barbéro, P. Quézel: Contribution à l'étude des groupements forestiers de Chypre . In: Documents Phytosociologiques . tape 4 , 1979, p. 9-34 .
- ↑ Council Directive 92/43 / EEC of May 21, 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive) in the consolidated version of January 1, 2007 . Annex I. In: OJ. L 206 of July 22, 1992, p. 23.
