Quercus ithaburensis


Quercus ithaburensis, the Mount Tabor oak, is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is found from southeastern Italy to the Levant. It is the national tree of Jordan. Two subspecies are accepted, Quercus ithaburensis subsp. ithaburensis and Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis. Together with Quercus brantii, it forms a clade of distinct, closely related species within the oak section Cerris.

Description

Quercus ithaburensis is a small to medium-sized semi-evergreen to tardily deciduous tree growing to a maximum height of around with a rounded crown and often with a gnarled trunk and branches. The leaves are long and 2–5 cm wide, oval in shape, with 7 to 10 pairs of either teeth or shallow lobes along a revolute margin. They are dark glossy green above and gray tomentose below.
The male flowers are light green 5-cm long catkins while the wind-pollinated female flowers are small, up to, produced in threes on short stalks called peduncles. Flowering occurs from March through April in most of its native range. The acorns are generally oval, up to 5 cm long and 3 cm wide with a cap covering roughly one-third of the acorn, maturing in 18 months, dropping from the tree in the second autumn after pollination. The cap is covered in long stiff loose scales which are rolled backward or involute, especially along the edges of the cap.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are accepted:
  • Quercus ithaburensis subsp. ithaburensis – Turkey to the Palestine region
  • Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis Hedge & Yalt., syn. Quercus macrolepis, the Valonia oak – throughout the range of the species except the Palestine region

    Distribution and habitat

Quercus ithaburensis is native from the central and east Mediterranean basin. This oak grows in southeastern Italy, South Albania, coast areas and islands of Greece, South and West Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan.
Before the 20th century, the Plain of Sharon was covered by open woodland dominated by Quercus ithaburensis, which extended from Kfar Yona in the north to Ra'anana in the south. The local Arab inhabitants traditionally used the area for pasture, firewood and intermittent cultivation. The intensification of settlement and agricultural development, as well as the exploitation of native woodlands along the coastal plain by the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century led to deforestation and subsequent environmental degradation - a theme commonly discussed in Hebrew sources.

Uses

The cups of Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis, known as valonia, are used for tanning and dyeing as are the unripe acorns called camata or camatina. The ripe acorns are eaten raw or boiled.