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Kermes Oak

Quercus coccifera

Kermes Oak
Photo: Josep Gesti, CC BY-SA 4.0
Family
Fagaceae (Beech & oak family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Native range
Medit.
Climate
subtropical

About

Quercus coccifera, commonly known as kermes oak, holly oak, or Palestine oak, is an evergreen oak shrub or tree in section Ilex of the genus. It has many synonyms, including Quercus calliprinos. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Cyprus, Anatolia, and the Levant, crossing Spain, Italy, Libya, the Balkans, and Greece, including Crete. The Kernes oak was historically important as the food plant of Kermes scale insects, from which a red dye called crimson was obtained. The etymology of the specific name coccifera is related to the production of red cochineal (crimson) dye and derived from Latin coccum which was from Greek κόκκος, the kermes insect. The Latin -fera means 'bearer'.

Other Quercus plants

Quercus acatenangensis · Mapleleaf oak · Quercus acherdophylla · Quercus acrodonta · Quercus aculcingensis · Red Wood Evergreen Oak · Quercus acutangula · Quercus acutifolia · Sawtooth oak · Quercus aerea · African Oak · Quercus affinis

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus coccifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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