Quercus coccifera, the kermes oak or holly oak,[3] is an oak shrub or tree in section Ilex of the genus.[4] It has many synonyms, including Quercus calliprinos.[2] 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 and Turkey, crossing Spain, Italy, Libya, the Balkans, and Greece, including Crete. The Kermes oak was historically important as the food plant of Kermes scale insects, from which a red dye called crimson was obtained.[5] 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'.[6]
Description
Quercus coccifera is usually a shrub less than 2 metres (6+1⁄2 feet) high, rarely a small tree, reaching 1–6 metres (3+1⁄2–19+1⁄2 ft) tall (with 10 m or 33 ft specimens recorded in Kouf, Libya).[7]
Gallery
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Trunk
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Leaves on branch
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Leaves
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Close-up of leaves
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Acorns
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Kermes oak in Kythera
Taxonomy
Quercus coccifera
Quercus coccifera was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[2] It is called "chêne des garrigues" (garrigue oak) in French. The term "garrigue" comes from Catalan or Occitan "garric" (meaning "twisted") the name for Q. coccifera in those languages. The common Spanish name of Q. coccifera is chaparro, which refers to its small size, a feature it shares with other oak species in similar habitats in other parts of the world, such as the chaparral communities from various parts of the Americas. The word chaparro comes from the Basque txapar meaning "little thicket".[8] Quercus coccifera is placed in section Ilex.[9]
Quercus calliprinos
As of February 2023, Plants of the World Online regards it as a synonym of Quercus coccifera,[2] but this is widely disputed, with many authors, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean, considering it distinct at least at subspecies rank, if not as a species.[3]

Conservation
It is included as an endangered species in the Red Book of Bulgaria.[10]
See also
References
- ^ Gorener, V.; Barstow, M. & Harvey-Brown, Y. (2018). "Quercus coccifera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T194078A2296598. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T194078A2296598.en. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Quercus coccifera L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
- ^ a b "Are Quercus calliprinos and Q. coccifera the Same or Distinct Species?". International Oak Society. 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ Denk, Thomas; Grimm, Guido W.; Manos, Paul S.; Deng, Min; Hipp, Andrew L. (2017), Gil-Pelegrín, Eustaquio; Peguero-Pina, José Javier; Sancho-Knapik, Domingo (eds.), "An Updated Infrageneric Classification of the Oaks: Review of Previous Taxonomic Schemes and Synthesis of Evolutionary Patterns" (PDF), Oaks Physiological Ecology. Exploring the Functional Diversity of Genus Quercus L., Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 13–38, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-69099-5_2, ISBN 978-3-319-69099-5, retrieved 2022-11-16
- ^ Young, Frank N. Jr; Kritsky, Gene (2002). A Survey of Entomology. San Jose: Writers Club Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-595-22143-2.
- ^ "Cochineal".
- ^ "Important bird areas fact sheet: Jabal al Akhdar". BirdLife International. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ "chaparral". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
- ^ Denk, Thomas; Grimm, Guido W.; Manos, Paul S.; Deng, Min & Hipp, Andrew L. (2017). "Appendix 2.1: An updated infrageneric classification of the oaks" (xls). figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.5547622.v1. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ^ "Quercus coccifera". Red Book of Bulgaria, vol. 1. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
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