Quercus alnifolia Poech

Cyprus; introduced in Europe (France) in 1815;

6-8 m tall; smaller in cultivation (2-3 m); slow growing;

3-6 cm long, 2-5 cm wide; evergreen; leathery; rounded or broadly oval; apex obtuse, sometimes shortly acuminate; base rounded; margin toothed ( 4-9 pairs of short teeth in apical 1/2) except near base, often revolute; glossy dark green, convex above, with impressed veins; golden felted below, at least when young, then brown, later blackish, glabrescent only on veins; 5-6 veins pairs, sunken above, prominent beneath; petiole 0.5-1 cm long, densely tomentose;

male catkin 1.5-2.5 cm long, hairy, densely flowered; female catkin 1-1.5 cm long, with 2-3 flowers;

acorn pointed, conical ovoid, 1.5-3 cm long and 0.8-1.6 cm wide; wider near apex; enclosed for 1/4 of length by cyathiform cup; cup 1.4-2.5 cm wide, 0.8-1.2 cm high, with long, greyish tomentose scales, the upper ones spreading or reflexed; narrow basal scare; acorns germinate from the base; ripen first year;

– A. Camus : tome 1, p. 430, n° 106; – Sub-genus Cerris, Section Ilex; – Rare in cultivation; rare also in Cyprus, where it occurs only on Troodos Mount, near 800 m; – Resembles Q.ilex ; sometimes confused with Q.coccifera ;