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Cork Oak
	Cork Oak in Christchurch botanic gardens
Conservation status
	Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae;
Division:	Magnoliophyta;
Class:	Magnoliopsida;
Order:	Fagales;
Family:	Fagaceae;
Genus:	Quercus;
Section:	Cerris;
Species:	Q. suber;
Binomial name
	Quercus suber; L.

Quercus suber, commonly called the Cork Oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa.

It grows to up to 20 m, although it is typically more stunted in its native environment. The leaves are 4 to 7 cm long, weakly lobed or coarsely toothed, dark green above, paler beneath, with the leaf margins often downcurved. The acorns are 2 to 3 cm long, in a deep cup fringed with elongated scales.

[edit] Ecology

Natural stands of cork oak can support diverse ecosystems. For example, in parts of northwestern North Africa, some cork oak forests are habitat to the endangered primate Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus, a species whose habitat is fragmented and whose range was prehistorically much wider.^[1] The tree has a thick, insulating bark that likely evolved as a protection against forest fires.

Harvested cork trees south of Ubrique in Andalusia, Southern Spain, May 2008

[edit] Cultivation

The tree forms a thick, rugged bark containing high levels of suberin. Over time the cork cambium layer of bark can develop considerable thickness and can be harvested every 9 to 12 years to produce cork. The harvesting of cork does not harm the tree and a new layer of cork regrows, making it a renewable resource. The tree is widely cultivated in Spain, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, France, Italy and Tunisia. Cork Oak forests cover approximately 25,000 square kilometres in those countries. Portugal accounts for 50% of the world cork harvest. Cork Oaks cannot legally be cut down in Portugal, except for forest management felling of old, unproductive trees.

Cork Oaks live about 150 to 250 years.^[2] Virgin cork (or 'male' cork) is the first cork cut from generally 25 year old trees. Another 9 to 12 years is required for the second harvest, and a tree can be harvested twelve times in its lifetime. Cork harvesting is done entirely without machinery. The European cork industry produces 340,000 tonnes of cork a year, with a value of €1.5 billion and employing 30,000 people. Wine corks represent 15% of cork usage by weight but 66% of revenues.

Cork Oaks are sometimes planted as individual trees, providing a minor income to their owners. The tree is also sometimes cultivated for ornament. Hybrids with Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris) are regular, both in the wild in southwest Europe and in cultivation; the hybrid is known as Lucombe Oak Quercus × hispanica. Some cork is also produced in eastern Asia from the related Chinese Cork Oak (Quercus variabilis)

[edit] Pathogens

Phytophthora ramorum (Sudden oak death) has reached Europe and could pose a threat to the cork oak.

[edit] Gallery

Botanical illustration showing foliage, male and female flowers, and acorn.	Close-up of leaves.	Close-up of acorn.	Close-up of acorns, immature.
Cork Oak, at the base the dark reddish bark left after harvesting is visible (Portugal).	Close-up of the characteristically corky bark.	Close-up at the margin of the harvest (Massif des Maures, France).	Harvested cork.