The Hungarian oak

The Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto or Quercus conferta) is a tree of the Fagaceae family whose natural range extends from central Italy to northwestern Turkey: Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia), Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary , Italy, Romania and Turkey.

Use of Hungarian oak

The wood of the Hungarian oak is used in the mines for the support of the galleries. It is also used as sleepers, firewood and charcoal. On the other hand, it is little used in construction because it breaks transversely. Its acorns are sometimes used as food for domestic animals.

Special features of Hungarian oak

The Hungarian oak lives on the sunny slopes of the mountains, up to 2000 meters above sea level, on dry stations.

This oak has a very strong tendency to hybridize with closely related species such as the sessile oak (Quercus petraea) or the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur).

A deciduous tree, the Hungarian oak can reach 30 meters in height (more rarely 40 meters) and exceed one meter in diameter at the level of the trunk. It generally has a broad and regular crown carried by a straight and slender trunk.

The leaves of the Hungarian oak, 8 to 25 cm long and 5 to 14 cm wide, are arranged at the end of the twigs. The leaves have 6 to 13 pairs of regular lobes with rounded, deep sinuses. At bud break, both sides are covered with a whitish or pale yellow tomentum (down). The acorns of the Hungarian oak, 1.2 to 3.5 cm long and 1 to 1.2 cm wide, are elliptical oblong or ovoid oblong. They are housed in hemispherical cups, 1 to 1.8 cm deep and 1.2 to 2 cm wide, which encompass between a quarter and a half of the glans. The cupules are made up of many large scales and have a dense grayish or pale yellowish tomentum.

Visual 1: Botanical plate © D.R.

Visuals 2 and 3: Hungarian oak © D.R.