Quercus pyrenaica Willd.

Atlantic Coast (France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco); 400-1600 m;

to 40 m tall, with trunk 0.8 m in diameter; trunk twisted; crown open, domed; the branches are sometimes rather pendulous and the garden epithet pendula is sometimes applied to these trees;

8-20 x 4-12 cm; deciduous; thick, pubescent; oblong, pinnatifide; apex slightly pointed; base cuneate; 6 pairs (and more) of irregular, lobulate lobes, deep narrow sinuses reaching halfway to the midrib ; grey green or greyish; covered above with fasciculate hairs; whitish fasciculate hairs beneath (stalk 40-6 µm, 4-8 rays 500-1000 µm long) ; 4-9 pairs of secondary sinuous veins, diverging at more than 37° from midrib ; midrib strongly raised underneath; petiole densely hairy, 0.8-2 cm long;

long (3-8 cm), numerous, rich yellow male catkins in May; female catkins short, few-flowered;

acorn small, ovoid oblong; 2 to 4 on a peduncle to 3 cm long, or sessile; enclosed 1/3 by cup; cup pubescent, with pointed, appressed scales; maturing in 6 months in October-November;

hardy; prefers acidic soils, even poor and dry; long lived;

– Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Series Roburoid; – A.Camus n° 127 – Very rare outside its typical range; – The natural hybrids of Q. pyrenaica are : Q. x andegavensis , Q. x cantabrica , Q. x diosdadoi , Q. x firmurensis , Q. x fontqueri , Q. x paui , Q. x trabutii , Q. x welwitschii – OOTW reports hybrid: Q. × cantabrica ((Q. petraea × Q. pyrenaica) × Q. robur subsp. broteroana) [complex hybrid]