Quercus canariensis Willd.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Quercus canariensis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-canariensis/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Genus

Common Names

  • Algerian Oak

Synonyms

  • Q. mirbeckii Durieu
  • Q. lusitanica var. baetica Webb
  • Quercus lusitanica subsp. baetica (Webb) A. DC.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

acorn
Fruit of Quercus; a single-seeded nut set in a woody cupule.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
midrib
midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.
tomentum
Dense layer of soft hairs. tomentose With tomentum.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Quercus canariensis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-canariensis/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

A deciduous tree of stately habit, 60 to 90 ft high in Britain, up to 120 ft high in Algeria, with a thick, rugged bark; young shoots ribbed, covered when young with a loose flock, soon glabrous, brown the second year. Leaves oval or obovate, coarsely toothed or lobed, rounded to heart-shaped or auricled at the base, variable in size but usually 312 to 6 in. long, 2 to 314 in. wide (often larger on young trees), densely coated on both sides when unfolding with a reddish, floccose tomentum, becoming dark green and quite glabrous above, the underside rather glaucous, also glabrous except for traces of brownish flock on the midrib, especially towards the base and on the stalk, which is 12 to 1 in. long; ribs in eight to fourteen pairs, fairly straight and regularly spaced. Fruits ripening the first season, scarcely stalked, clustered; acorns about 1 in. long; cup with flattened, downy scales, enclosing the lowest third of the acorn.

Native mainly of N. Africa but also found in the Iberian peninsula, mostly in its southern part. It does not occur wild in the Canary Islands. The date of introduction to Britain is not known, but the oak discussed by Loudon under the queried name Q. australis may well have been Q. canariensis; if so, it was introduced to the garden of the Horticultural Society from the neighbourhood of Gibraltar in 1835. There was an introduction to France by General Pelissier around 1845 by means of acorns, some of which were sent by Louis Philippe to Queen Victoria, who distributed them among the ladies of the court.

Q. canariensis is perfectly hardy, and one of the handsomest of all oaks. It is a vigorous grower and notable for the rich green and large size of its leaves, which remain on the branches until Christmas, sometimes a month or two later. It produces fertile acorns but hybridises so readily with the common oak that its seedlings are rarely true. Fortunately it grows well when grafted on the common or the durmast oak and this is the best way of increasing it if wild-source seed cannot be obtained.

The oldest specimen of the Algerian oak at Kew grows near the Isleworth Gate; it came from Booth of Hamburg in 1869 and measures 74 × 1034 ft (1968). The following are in the main Oak collection: pl. 1882, from the Joad Bequest, 68 × 7 ft (1968); pl. 1895, 66 × 614 ft (1965) (this tree was bought from Lee’s nursery for half-a-crown and measured 49 × 412 ft in 1938); pl. 1904, 64 × 534 ft (1965).

Some of the notable trees in other collections are: Ham Manor, Sussex, two trees mentioned by Elwes and Henry, the larger 70 × 814 ft (1907), now 76 × 1334 ft (1965); Melbury Park, Dorset, 80 × 1014 ft (1970); Tortworth, Glos., 75 × 10 ft (1965); Osborne, Isle of Wight, 90 × 814 ft (1964); Howick, Northumb., pl. 1851, 60 × 7 ft (1958); Holker, Lancs, 75 × 12 ft (1971).

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Kew, by Isleworth Gate (see page 465), pl. 1869, 82 × 1114 ft (1978), pl. 1882 (Joad Bequest), 71 × 7 ft (1978), pl. 1895 (see page 465), 68 × 712 ft (1986); Osterlev Park, London, 85 × 812 ft (1982); Ham Manor, Sussex (see page 465) 88 × 1334 ft and 90 × 1412 ft (1983); Alexandra Park, Hastings, Sussex, pl. 1880, 85 × 1012 ft (1983); Melbury, Dorset, a tree mentioned by Elwes and Henry, 100 × 12 ft (1980); Westonbirt, Glos., Broad Drive, pl. 1876, 90 × 9 ft (1983); Tockington Manor, nr Bristol, 73 × 1012 ft (1983); Holker Hall, Lancs., 72 × 1212 ft (1983).