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Quercus cerris
Also called European turkey oak, Hairy Oak
Turkey oak is a large, fast-growing deciduous oak from southern and southeastern Europe and western Asia, grown as an ornamental and windbreak tree. It needs plenty of space and full sun to reach its full size.
Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is a species of oak in the beech family (Fagaceae). It is native to southern and south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and the Levant, but has been introduced outside its range. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months.
Turkey oak is widely planted and is naturalised in much of Europe. This is partly for its relatively fast growth. It is used as an ornamental, and as a coastal windbreak. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Variegata', a variegated cultivar, and 'Woden', with large, deeply lobed leaves.
Turkey oak readily hybridises with cork oak (Q. suber), the resulting hybrid being named Q. × crenata Lam. This hybrid occurs both naturally where its parents' ranges overlap in the wild, and has also arisen in cultivation. It is a very variable medium to large tree, usually semi-evergreen, sometimes nearly completely so, and often with marked hybrid vigour; its bark is thick and fissured but never as thick as that of the cork oak. Numerous cultivars are available, often grafted onto Turkey oak root stock.
First year acorns are very bitter, but are eaten by jays and pigeons; squirrels usually only eat them when other food sources have run out.
Quercus affinis · Coast Live Oak · White Oak · Golden Oak · Scrub oak · Brant's oak · Canyon Live Oak · Scarlet Oak · Daimyo oak · Blue oak · Leather oak · Northern pin oak
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus cerris by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
