Plant · P-567

Sweet Acorn Oak

Quercus ilex

Holm Oak is a slow-growing evergreen oak with one of the very few acorns sweet enough to eat straight off the tree, though sweetness varies tree to tree, so seedlings are worth tasting before deciding which ones to keep. Its wood burns well even unseasoned, which is unusual for firewood, and its bark and galls yield a rich source of tannin. It thrives on thin, alkaline, limestone ground and hot dry summers, and tolerates hard trimming well enough to be grown as a windbreak or hedge. Once mature it casts dense, year-round shade that suits grazing stock but crowds out anything sun-loving planted beneath it.