Armenian Oak

From the Colchis Triangle

With this oak everything can be admired at eye level. The Pontine oak is a slow-growing tree growing to 7 m in height with large, serrated leaves. Due to its highly branched growth habit, the tree takes on the appearance of an oversized, spherical bush. In winter, the buds are large, angular and striking. The male flowers are pendulous catkins up to 20 cm in length.

Quercus pontica is a relic from the Tertiary (to 2.5 million years ago). Today it has a small range between the Lesser Caucasus and the Black Sea (Georgia, Turkey). In this region (the Colchis Triangle) there are many other plants belonging to a distant past. The Pontine oak grows at altitudes of 1300-2300 m. In Georgia overgrazing and deforestation is a major reason for its decline.

Ecology and habit

Quercus pontica is a relict of the Teriary vegetation that grew up to about 2.5 million years ago up and before the Ice Age. Today this species has a small distribution restricted to the area between the Lesser Caucasus and the Black Sea (Georgia, Turkey). On this strip of land (the Colchis triangle) there are many more botanical relicts from the geological past than just this one oak species. It grows in the subalpine zone, i.e. even above the tree line (altitudes of 1300 – 2300 m), on acidic soils.

Threat

In Georgia overgrazing and deforestation are the major causes for its decline. In this region there are a number of nature reserves.