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Editor's Picks

Group photo at The Savill Garden
Three-day event included visits to two parks in Berkshire...
Roderick Cameron | Aug 18, 2024
Rebekah Mohn presenting at IBC 2024
Several abstracts included research involving Quercus.
Website Editor | Aug 13, 2024
Participants at the Oak Study Day in Arboretum des Pouyouleix
This five-day event included visits to four oak collections...
Website Editor | Aug 12, 2024

Plant Focus

Quercus dumosa acorn
Animals, plants, and fungi depend on this humble tree, but its future—and theirs—is all but certain.

A Purple-Leaved Quercus rotundifolia

In June 2024 I visited Santiago Reyna Domenech, a professor at Valencia University (Universitat Politècnica de Valencia), at his truffle plantation about an hour’s drive north of Valencia. The purpose of the visit was mainly to discuss the cultivation of black truffles (Tuber melanosporum), but before we left he showed me a curious oak in a corner of his plantation. In a group of Quercus rotundifolia seedlings grown to be inoculated with truffle spores, he had noticed several that had attractive burgundy leaves and retained their color throughout the growing season. He selected a few and planted them out next to his truffle oaks. Most of them have proved very slow growers and have not surpassed about half a meter in height, but one has formed a small bush. We agreed this could be an attractive garden plant, with significant ornamental value. I encouraged Santiago to get the plant propagated. Once this is achieved, the plant could be registered as a cultivar and offered to nurseries. Watch this space!

Maroon leaves
Maroon-burgundy leaves on a Quercus rotundifolia in Santiago Reyna's garden
Pale undersides
The undersides of the leaves are paler, with pinkish tones rather than blue-green, as is typical of the species
Small bush
The plant forms a small bush, a little over 1 m tall; note typical Quercus rotundifolia in the truffle orchard in the background
Santiago Reyna
Santiago Reyna next to his purple-leaved Quercus rotundifolia

Photos © Roderick Cameron