Quercus pedunculiflora
Grayish oak

Greyish oak (Quercus pedunculiflora) is a deciduous tree native to south-eastern Europe and western Asia. It is found at altitudes up to 1 800 m. It is a hardy species, typically growing in mixed forests. It can grow on a variety of soils. Despite its drought tolerance, the tree is often found in floodplain forests and along rivers and streams.

Ecologically, greyish oak contributes to forest biodiversity by providing habitat and food for a variety of wildlife, including birds and mammals that feed on its acorns. It plays a role in soil stabilization and forest structure. Given its resistance to drought, the tree is likely to be an important species for forestry in the future, particularly in the face of climate change. The wood of greyish oak is durable and used for construction, furniture, flooring, and firewood.

in situ genetic conservation unit
ex situ genetic conservation unit
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Acknowledgements

This distribution map has been developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (partly based on the EUFORGEN map) and released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0)


Caudullo, G., Welk, E., San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., 2017. Chorological maps for the main European woody species. Data in Brief 12, 662-666. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2017.05.007

The following experts have contributed to the development of the EUFORGEN distribution maps:

Fazia Krouchi (Algeria), Hasmik Ghalachyan (Armenia), Thomas Geburek (Austria), Berthold Heinze (Austria), Rudi Litschauer (Austria), Rudolf Litschauer (Austria), Michael Mengl (Austria), Ferdinand Müller (Austria), Franz Starlinger (Austria), Valida Ali-zade (Azerbaijan), Vahid Djalal Hajiyev (Azerbaijan), Karen Cox (Belgium), Bart De Cuyper (Belgium), Olivier Desteucq (Belgium), Patrick Mertens (Belgium), Jos Van Slycken (Belgium), An Vanden Broeck (Belgium), Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge (Belgium), Dalibor Ballian (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Alexander H. Alexandrov (Bulgaria), Alexander Delkov (Bulgaria), Ivanova Denitsa Pandeva (Bulgaria), Peter Zhelev Stoyanov (Bulgaria), Joso Gracan (Croatia), Marilena Idzojtic (Croatia), Mladen Ivankovic (Croatia), Željka Ivanović (Croatia), Davorin Kajba (Croatia), Hrvoje Marjanovic (Croatia), Sanja Peric (Croatia), Andreas Christou (Cyprus), Xenophon Hadjikyriacou (Cyprus), Václav Buriánek (Czech Republic), Jan Chládek (Czech Republic), Josef Frýdl (Czech Republic), Petr Novotný (Czech Republic), Martin Slovacek (Czech Republic), Zdenek Špišek (Czech Republic), Karel Vancura (Czech Republic), Ulrik Bräuner (Denmark), Bjerne Ditlevsen (Denmark), Jon Kehlet Hansen (Denmark), Jan Svejgaard Jensen (Denmark), Kalev Jðgiste (Estonia), Tiit Maaten (Estonia), Raul Pihu (Estonia), Ülo Tamm (Estonia), Arvo Tullus (Estonia), Aivo Vares (Estonia), Teijo Nikkanen (Finland), Sanna Paanukoski (Finland), Mari Rusanen (Finland), Pekka Vakkari (Finland), Leena Yrjänä (Finland), Daniel Cambon (France), Eric Collin (France), Alexis Ducousso (France), Bruno Fady (France), François Lefèvre (France), Brigitte Musch (France), Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio (France), Luc E. Pâques (France), Julien Saudubray (France), Marc Villar (France), Vlatko Andonovski (FYR Macedonia), Dragi Pop-Stojanov (FYR Macedonia), Merab Machavariani (Georgia), Irina Tvauri (Georgia), Alexander Urushadze (Georgia), Bernd Degen (Germany), Jochen Kleinschmit (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Volker Schneck (Germany), Richard Stephan (Germany), H. H. Kausch-Blecken Von Schmeling (Germany), Georg von Wühlisch (Germany), Iris Wagner (Germany), Heino Wolf (Germany), Paraskevi Alizoti (Greece), Filippos Aravanopoulos (Greece), Andreas Drouzas (Greece), Despina Paitaridou (Greece), Aristotelis C. Papageorgiou (Greece), Kostas Thanos (Greece), Sándor Bordács (Hungary), Csaba Mátyás (Hungary), László Nagy (Hungary), Thröstur Eysteinsson (Iceland), Adalsteinn Sigurgeirsson (Iceland), Halldór Sverrisson (Iceland), John Fennessy (Ireland), Ellen O'Connor (Ireland), Fulvio Ducci (Italy), Silvia Fineschi (Italy), Bartolomeo Schirone (Italy), Marco Cosimo Simeone (Italy), Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin (Italy), Lorenzo Vietto (Italy), Janis Birgelis (Latvia), Virgilijus Baliuckas (Lithuania), Kestutis Cesnavicius (Lithuania), Darius Danusevicius (Lithuania), Valmantas Kundrotas (Lithuania), Alfas Pliûra (Lithuania), Darius Raudonius (Lithuania), Robert du Fays (Luxembourg), Myriam Heuertz (Luxembourg), Claude Parini (Luxembourg), Fred Trossen (Luxembourg), Frank Wolter (Luxembourg), Joseph Buhagiar (Malta), Eman Calleja (Malta), Ion Palancean (Moldova), Dragos Postolache (Moldova), Gheorghe Postolache (Moldova), Hassan Sbay (Morocco), Tor Myking (Norway), Tore Skrøppa (Norway), Anna Gugala (Poland), Jan Kowalczyk (Poland), Czeslaw Koziol (Poland), Jan Matras (Poland), Zbigniew Sobierajski (Poland), Maria Helena Almeida (Portugal), Filipe Costa e Silva (Portugal), Luís Reis (Portugal), Maria Carolina Varela (Portugal), Ioan Blada (Romania), Alexandru-Lucian Curtu (Romania), Lucian Dinca (Romania), Georgeta Mihai (Romania), Mihai Olaru (Romania), Gheorghe Parnuta (Romania), Natalia Demidova (Russian Federation), Mikhail V. Pridnya (Russian Federation), Andrey Prokazin (Russian Federation), Srdjan Bojovic (Serbia) , Vasilije Isajev (Serbia), Saša Orlovic (Serbia), Rudolf Bruchánik (Slovakia), Roman Longauer (Slovakia), Ladislav Paule (Slovakia), Gregor Bozič (Slovenia), Robert Brus (Slovenia), Katarina Celič (Slovenia), Hojka Kraigher (Slovenia), Andrej Verlič (Slovenia), Marjana Westergren (Slovenia), Ricardo Alía (Spain), Josefa Fernández-López (Spain), Luis Gil Sanchez (Spain), Pablo Gonzalez Goicoechea (Spain), Santiago C. González-Martínez (Spain), Sonia Martin Albertos (Spain), Eduardo Notivol Paino (Spain), María Arantxa Prada (Spain), Alvaro Soto de Viana (Spain), Lennart Ackzell (Sweden), Jonas Bergquist (Sweden), Sanna Black-Samuelsson (Sweden), Jonas Cedergren (Sweden), Gösta Eriksson (Sweden), Markus Bolliger (Switzerland), Felix Gugerli (Switzerland), Rolf Holderegger (Switzerland), Peter Rotach (Switzerland), Marcus Ulber (Switzerland), Sven M.G. de Vries (The Netherlands), Khouja Mohamed Larbi (Tunisia), Murat Alan (Turkey), Gaye Kandemir (Turkey), Gursel Karagöz (Turkey), Zeki Kaya (Turkey), Hasan Özer (Turkey), Hacer Semerci (Turkey), Ferit Toplu (Turkey), Mykola M. Vedmid (Ukraine), Roman T. Volosyanchuk (Ukraine), Stuart A'Hara (United Kingdom), Joan Cottrell (United Kingdom), Colin Edwards (United Kingdom), Michael Frankis (United Kingdom), Jason Hubert (United Kingdom), Karen Russell (United Kingdom), C.J.A. Samuel (United Kingdom).
 

Status of Quercus pedunculiflora conservation in Europe

Greyish oak has a higher genetic variance than the genetically similar species, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), which could be the result of introgression between greyish oak and downy oak (Quercus pubescens) (Curtu et al., 2011). However, greyish oak has lower levels of allelic richness and genetic diversity than pedunculate oak (Curtu et al., 2011).

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

Interspecific taxa dynamics

All oak species are closely related, with many sharing haplotypes and hybridizing frequently (Crăciunesc et al., 2015). While most oak species have significant genetic differentiation from each other, greyish oak and pedunculate oak populations have the lowest level of genetic differentiation between them (Crăciunesc et al., 2015). Greyish oak can be genetically distinguished from downy oak and Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto), but not from pedunculate oak (Crăciunesc et al., 2015). Low genetic differentiation between greyish oak and pedunculate oak could be the result of continued gene flow between the species or because they only recently diverged (Curtu et al., 2011).

Greyish oak is often considered an adapted or hybridized race of pedunculate oak, but greyish oak has a more restricted distribution in south-eastern Europe and prefers drier conditions, being more drought resistant (Curtu et al., 2011). Greyish oak is phenotypically, morphologically, and genetically like pedunculate oak and the two species share many haplotypes (Curtu et al., 2011).

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

Greyish oak’s natural distribution has been reduced by conversion of land to agriculture, poor forest management, and human activities going on for centuries (Curtu et al., 2011). Some of the species' populations are now highly fragmented and isolated (Curtu et al., 2011). Due to fragmentation and reduced population sizes, genetic drift could affect the species’ genetic diversity (Curtu et al., 2011). Greyish oak could be important for future forest management and climate adaptation, improving drought resistance of oak forests (Curtu et al., 2011).

 

The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.

Genetic Characterisation of Quercus pedunculiflora and its GCUs

Availability of FRM

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Related publications

Contacts of experts

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Further reading

Budeanu, M., Achim, G., Apostol, E.N., Șofletea, N., and Dinu, C. 2016. Grafting the greyish oak (Quercus pedunculiflora) in order to establish the first seed orchard in Romania. Revista de Silvicultură și Cinegetică, 21(39): 22–28

References

Crăciunesc, I., Vornam, B., Leinemann, L., Finkeldey, R., Șofletea, N., and Curtu, A.L. 2015. High genetic differentiation among European white oak species (Quercus spp.) at a dehydrin gene. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 43(2): 582–588.

Curtu, A.L., Sofletea, N., Toader, A.V., and Enescu, M.C. 2011. Leaf morphological and genetic differentiation between Quercus robur L. and its closest relative, the drought-tolerant Quercus pedunculiflora K. Koch. Annals of Forest Science, 68: 1163–1172.