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''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak, is an oak in the ''Quercus'' section ''Cerris''. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Turkey, crossing Spain, Italy, Libya, Balkans, and Greece, including Crete. The Kermes Oak was historically important as the food plant of the Kermes scale insect, from which a red dye called crimson was obtained. The etymology of the specific name 'coccifera' is related to the production of red cochineal (crimson) dye and derived from Latin ''coccum'' which was from Greek κὀκκος, the kermes insect. The Latin ''-fera'' means 'bearer'.〔http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cochineal〕 ==Description== ''Quercus coccifera'' is usually a shrub less tall, rarely a small tree, reaching tall (a specimen recorded in Kouf, Libya〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=6471 )〕) and 50 cm trunk diameter. It is evergreen, with spiny-serrated coriaceous leaves 1.5–4 cm long and 1–3 cm broad. The acorns are 2–3 cm long and 1.5–2 cm diameter when mature about 18 months after pollination. They are held in a cup covered in dense, elongated, reflexed scales. Quercus coccifera (10).JPG|Leaves of ''Quercus coccifera'' Quercus coccifera (9).JPG|Leaves of ''Quercus coccifera'' The kermes oak, ''Quercus coccifera'' is a scrub oak closely related to the Palestine oak (''Quercus calliprinos'') of the eastern Mediterranean, with some botanists including the latter in kermes oak as a subspecies or variety. The Palestine oak is distinguished from it by its larger size (more often a tree, up to 18 m) and larger acorns over 2 cm diameter. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quercus coccifera」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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