QUERCUS SUBER L. (FAGACEAE) — Cork Oak

This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Cork Oak. Bark provides the cork of commerce are used for bungs and stoppers for bottles and other containers, life preservers, artificial limbs, sealing liners for bottle caps, novelties, switch-boxes, household appliances and friction rolls, cork-board, and for insulation, acoustical, and machinery isolation purposes. The hard wax extracted from the cork waste is used for making shoe pastes. The cork wax is a mixture of esters and triterpenes, also tannin, phlobaphen, cellulose, ligin, cyclitol, and vanillin. Mature trees yield good quantities of cork for 150 to 200 years in the Mediterranean region. With low energy input on tough terrain, this seems to be an energy-efficient land-holding scenario yielding cork, firewood, pork, and land stability. Best method of planting is by direct seeding. Trees may also be grafted on both evergreen and deciduous native oaks.