How do you recognise Holm oak (Quercus ilex)?

Leaf

La Spada Arturo, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Holm oak

Quercus ilex L.

Also known as: Holly oak, Evergreen oak

Family: Fagaceae

10 to 20 m tall

Mediterranean garrigue and forests

Flowering: April – May

Full sun

Part shade

-20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The only large evergreen oak in France — green all year round, even in winter. Holly has alternate, wavy, bumpy leaves, spiny all round the margin, and bears bright red berries; the holm oak (nicknamed 'false holly oak' in French) has flatter leaves, felted white beneath, with more irregular teeth (sometimes absent on the adult), and bears acorns.

🍃 Leaves

Evergreen, leathery, very variable: entire on the adult leaves of some twigs, or toothed/spiny mainly on young trees and suckers; upper surface dark green, underside greyish and downy.

🌸 Flowers

Yellowish hanging catkins

🍎 Fruits

Small elongated acorns with a felted cup

🪵 Bark

Grey-black, finely fissured

🗺️ Distribution

Mediterranean basin; very common in southern France, forming the maquis and garrigue

🐝 Value for pollinators

Catkins producing pollen in spring, evergreen foliage offering winter shelter to wildlife

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted as a windbreak hedge, in coastal avenues or as a specimen for its drought-resistant evergreen foliage

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Acorns rich in tannins, to be eaten in moderation by animals; harmless on contact

⚠️ Look-alike species

Holm oak

Quercus ilex

Common holly

Ilex aquifolium

Holly has alternate, wavy, bumpy leaves, spiny all round the margin, and bears bright red berries; the holm oak (nicknamed 'false holly oak' in French) has flatter leaves, felted white beneath, with more irregular teeth (sometimes absent on the adult), and bears acorns.

Holm oak

Quercus ilex

Cork oak

Quercus suber

Both are Mediterranean oaks with leathery evergreen leaves, but the cork oak has thick, fissured, corky bark, whereas that of the holm oak stays smooth and grey.

Holm oak

Quercus ilex

Kermes oak

Quercus coccifera

The kermes oak looks like a young spiny holm oak, but remains a low bush of 2 to 4 m with leaves regularly and densely prickly all round their margin, whereas the mature holm oak becomes a tree and bears leaves that are barely toothed, even entire.

🌿 Other Fagaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.