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Quercus ilex
Also called Evergreen Oak, Holly Oak
Holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean, growing 21 to 28 m tall in good conditions and often forming a broad, dense crown. It is hardy and tolerant, and is most often grown as a shade or specimen tree in mild climates.
The holm oak (Quercus ilex), also called the holly oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the section Ilex of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer.
The wood is hard and tough, and has been used since ancient times for general construction purposes as pillars, tools, wagons (as mentioned in Hesiod, Works and Days on page 429), vessels and wine casks. It is also used as firewood and in charcoal manufacture.
The holm oak is one of the top three trees used in the establishment of truffle orchards, or truffières. Truffles grow in an ectomycorrhizal association with the tree's roots.
Holm oak grows in pure stands or mixed forest in the Mediterranean and often at low or moderate elevations, but also at higher altitudes in the Atlas Mountains. It is native from westernmost Turkey and through Greece west to parts of the Iberian Peninsula, where it mixes with Q. rotundifolia, along the northern Mediterranean coastal belt, and in the Atlas Mountains in Tunisia and Algeria.
Quercus affinis · Coast Live Oak · White Oak · Golden Oak · Scrub oak · Brant's oak · Turkey Oak · Canyon Live Oak · Scarlet Oak · Daimyo oak · Blue oak · Leather oak
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus ilex 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.
