Quercus ilex
- noun
- Specialized
:
encina
- Many parks in Spain are planted with Quercus ilex to create evergreen landscapes.
Examples
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The ancient Quercus ilex stood at the edge of the Mediterranean grove, its dense foliage providing shade.
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Carpenters prize the hard wood of Quercus ilex for furniture making and construction.
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The Quercus ilex is a beautiful tree.
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Many gardeners prefer Quercus ilex for its resilience.
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Carpenters prize the hard wood of Quercus ilex for furniture making and construction.
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Many parks in Spain are planted with Quercus ilex to create evergreen landscapes.
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The ancient Quercus ilex stood at the edge of the Mediterranean grove, its dense foliage providing shade.
Synonyms
A large evergreen oak tree with dark sharp leaves and very hard wood
An evergreen tree with leaves like holly that grows in Mediterranean regions
A tree that keeps leaves all year and has hard wood and spiny dark green leaves like holly
An evergreen oak tree with shiny leaves
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The binomial combines Quercus (oak) with ilex (holly), so the compound literally signals an oak that resembles holly — i.e., a holly‑like or holm oak. Scientific Latin names are compositional and cross-linguistically consistent, so a learner who knows the constituent meanings can derive the species meaning.
Etymology
Quercus ilex comes from Latin: Quercus means 'oak' and ilex was an old word for 'holly'. The tree is an oak with leaves like holly and stays green all year, so the name helps you remember it as the evergreen 'holm oak'.