Taxon

Quercus suber

 
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Quercus suber - cork oak
Image: © Doc Baldwin
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Common name: cork oak
Family: Fagaceae (Beech)
IUCN Red list: Least concern
Life form: Evergreen tree
Comments: This is a medium-sized evergreen tree with a broad spreading canopy. It has thick, deeply fissured grey bark which is fire retardant. Its leaves are 4-7 cm long, dark green above and much lighter green beneath. The acorns appear in autumn and held in deep cups fringed with scales. Height 15m. Spread10m.

Quercus suber is native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. It occurs in open woodlands in areas with cold, moist winters and hot dry summers, generally on acidic soils on hills and lower slopes.

The first cork oak seedlings planted at the Arboretum site in 1917 were propagated from acorns sent to Charles Weston at the Yarralumla Nursery by Walter Burley Griffin. These were sourced from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. More acorns were collected from the Public Gardens in Kyneton, Victoria and seedlings were also raised from acorns collected on Campbell's property at Duntroon.

By 1920, 9600 cork oaks had been planted in an area covering 8 ha at this location, then known as Green Hills. Some of the area was lost, however, to Glenloch Interchange/William Hovell Drive roadworks in the early 1980s.

From December 2012 to January 2013, volunteers from the Friends of the National Arboretum Canberra surveyed the cork oak plantation that had now become Forest 1 of the National Arboretum Canberra. They counted 2604 live trees, 34 dead trees, 5 fallen trees and 782 tree stumps, accounting for 3420 trees in total.

Much of the information above is sourced from Susan Parson's detailed Tree Story.

Scientific name pronunciation of Quercus suber, Dr Roger Hnatiuk, Botanist, Science Volunteer, National Arboretum Canberra

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