Quercus pontica - Armenian or Pontine Oak

Quercus pontica is deciduous tree, growing to 6-8m, which makes an outstanding specimen plant. It occurs naturally as a large, rounded shrub or short trunked tree but is also grown in a cultivated state as a single stemmed ornamental standard. It is native to a small area of the Caucasus mountains in western Georgia, north-east Turkey and Armenia.

The attractive leaves of Pontine Oak are large, growing up to 20cm long. They are ovate with a serrated margin, darkish green with a bluish underside. In Autumn they change to brilliant yellow and coppery brown.

In Spring, long golden catkins (the male flowers) hang in pendulous clusters as the foliage is beginning to emerge. The fruit is a large acorn, also produced in clusters, ripening in the Autumn.

The bark of Quercus pontica is attractive, yellowish green on young growth and becoming rough and irregularly fissured as it matures.

FACT: The name Quercus pontica comes from the Latin pontic meaning 'of or relating to the historical Pontus region of Asia Minor'.