Hungarian oak
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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Hungarian Oak | image = Hungarian oak2.JPG | image_width = 240px | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Fagales | familia = Fagaceae | genus = Quercus | species = Q. frainetto | binomial = Quercus frainetto | binomial_authority = Tenore }}
The Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto) is a large oak, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, Romania) and Turkey; it is classified in Quercus sect. Mesobalanus.
The leaves are large, 14-25 cm long (occasionally up to 33 cm), divided into 6-10 very deep parallel lobes which are usually divided into sublobes. The leaf stalks are usually short, 2-6 mm (rarely to 22 mm) long. The leaves are widest close to the apex, which is broad and short pointed. The base of the leaf usually has ear shaped projections (auricles) which sometimes overlap the twig. The light yellow green expanding leaves turn rich dark green by the beginning of summer. The leaves are covered with minute russet hairs, especially the lower surface. The leaves are concentrated at the ends of twigs. The leaves turn brown, russet or yellow in fall and sometimes remain attached to the twigs until the following spring. The buds are large, long and pointed, shiny russet or light brown in colour with minute tomentum. The twigs are stout and covered with russet upward pointed hairs.
The light brown acorns develop in one year. They are small, 15-35 mm long, egg shaped, usually with a blunt apex. The acorn cup is covered with long overlapping scales and russet hairs. The acorns tend to concentrate in groups of 2 to 8 at the ends of twigs.
The centre of the Hungarian oak native range is in the Balkans. It is adapted to the subcontinental climate of southeastern Europe but the main factor of its occurrence at a particular site is the soil. It is specially adapted to heavy acidic soils (cambisols and vertisols), typical of Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. These soils are usually leached out, very dry in the summer and sometimes waterlogged in the spring. However, the Hungarian oak does not tolerate flooding or high water tables. It is also extremely sensitive to the presence of lime in the soil. Hence, opposite to its English name, the Hungarian oak is a very rare tree in Hungary, where the soils are generally very rich in lime. The Hungarian Oak-Turkey Oak forest is the most widespread association of this oak in the Balkans, which is also the most common forest type in Serbia.
This oak is very variable in leaf shape but two main varieties are recognized, var. macrophylla with larger, shallowly lobed and narrower leaves, shorter leaf stalks and longer auricles at the base of the leaf, and var. minor with smaller, more round leaves with deeper lobes and longer leaf stalks and heart-shaped leaf bases.
It is an outstanding ornamental tree for large gardens, where it can reach heights of 38 m and a trunk diameter of nearly 2 m.tr:macar meşesi