The cork oak is an evergreen tree native of south-western Europe and north-western Africa, from ancient times naturalized throughout the western part the Mediterranean Region. It is a thermophilic species that prefers warm and moderately dry sites, avoiding extreme drought or frequent winter frosts. It grows mainly on soils derived from acidic siliceous rocks, becoming sporadic on basaltic and calcareous substrata. The species is frequent along the edges of the Sardinian temporary ponds. The average life span is 250-300 years, but it decreases notably in specimens exploited for cork. The most striking feature of the cork oak is the remarkable development in thickness of the rhytidome, that forms a coating called 'cork'. The cork looks gray-brown in the branches of a few years of age, first with thin pale grey crackings which become progressively larger and irregular due to the tangential traction caused by the growth in diameter of the trunk. After several years, the cork forms an uneven spongy coverage, commonly known as male cork. After removal of the male cork, the phellogen produces every year new layers of cork tissue that form a more compact and regular layer, the so-called female cork. The genus name was already in use among the ancient Romans, it seems to reconnect to a Indo-European root that Latin shares with the Celtic words 'kaer' and 'quer' (beautiful tree), but also with similar Greek terms that refer to the roughness of the bark and wood; the species name is the Latin for 'cork'. Flowering period: April to June.

Italian name(s): Alcornocco (antichi), Alcornoch (antichi), Arburi de s'ortigu (Sardegna), Arburi de su suru (Sardegna), Arvere de suerzu (Sardegna), Erbo d' la nata (Piemonte), Legnass (Lombardia, Brescia), Nata (Piemonte), Natta (Piemonte), Quercia da sughero (Italia), Quercia sughero (Toscana), Roul (Piemonte), Soaro (Veneto, Verona), Soero (Veneto, Verona), Sogher (Emilia-Romagna, Reggio), Sovaro (Roma), Sover (Emilia-Romagna, Reggio), Sovere (antichi), Stopoun (Piemonte), Suaru (Liguria, Chiavari), Suberju (Sardegna), Suer (Lombardia, Brescia), Suergiu (Sardegna), Suerzu (Sardegna), Sugao (Liguria, Genova), Sugaro (Campania, Cosenza), Sughera (Italia), Sughera (Toscana), Sughero (Toscana), Suguru (Sicilia), Suro (Veneto, Venezia), Suuru (Sicilia), Suvaro (Basilicata), Suvaro (Calabria), Suvaru (Sicilia), Suvera (Toscana), Suvera (Liguria, Mentone), Suverara (Calabria), Suvere (Abruzzi), Suvero (Toscana), Suvero (Campania, Terra di Lavoro), Suvero (Calabria), Suveron (Liguria, Nizza).