Quercus coccifera L.
Diagnostic description:
A dense, much branched evergreen shrub or small tree to 2 m tall. Bark greyish, smooth, becoming scaly with age. Leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate, 1 to 5 cm long, coriaceous, dark green above and paler underneath; margins wavy with sharp spiny teeth. Male flowers in slender pendulous catkins; female flowers solitary. Fruit ripen in the second year; cup 1.5 to 2.5 cm across, covered with short stiff scales; acorn up to 3 cm long.
Distribution:
Local: Rare in Gibraltar. Found along the ridge above Douglas Path.
Global: Found in the Mediterranean region.
Ecology:
Flowers between (March) April and May.
Habitat:
Grows in maquis and garigue.