Cork oak, alcornoque

Description:

Medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring. It grows to up to 20 m, although it is typically more stunted in its native environment. The leaves are 4 to 7 cm long, weakly lobed or coarsely toothed, dark green above, paler beneath, with the leaf margins often downcurved. The acorns are 2 to 3 cm long, in a deep cup fringed with elongated scales.

Habitat:

Mediterranean forest. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Spotted at Parque Nacional de Monfragüe

Notes:

Cork oak can be harvested every 9 to 12 years to produce cork. The harvesting of cork does not harm the tree, in fact, no trees are cut down during the harvesting process. Only the bark is extracted, and a new layer of cork regrows, making it a renewable resource. In teh picture the tree is stripped off the bark to harvest to cork exposing the bare trunk which has a reddish colour.