Looking for Oaks in the Bootheel of Italy

Quercia dei Cento Cavalieri (Oak of the 100 knights), Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis, with group member on lower branch for scale.

A group of 13 people spent three wonderful days in the bootheel of the Italian peninsula, viewing specimens of several oak species, including Quercus ilex, Q. cerris, Q. pubescens, Q. trojana, Q. virgiliana, Q. robur subsp. pedunculiflora, Q. ithaburensis, Q. frainetto, Q. coccifera, and even a possible new hybrid between Q. cerris and Q. coccifera, which we saw in the company of Oreste Caroppo, who discovered it and after whom it was named. Highlights included the ancient Q. ilex at the Convento dei Cappuccini, a giant Q. ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis at Tricase, and the forest of Q. ithaburensis at the Bosco monotipico di Tricase. We were also able to admire other notable plants, especially in the Foresta Umbra in Gargano and the Bosco delle Pianelle near Martina Franca. The food, lodgings and organization were wonderful, thanks to the efforts of Christof Van Hulle of Sylma Nursery in Belgium.

You can view photographs from the trip in a photo gallery here, and you can look forward to reading my account of the tour in the next issue of Oak News & Notes and a detailed report by Bruno Van Puyenbroeck in International Oaks No. 26.