What is the mother of cork?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

January 1, 2004

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The cork oak (Quercus suber Linnaeus) is a citizen of the maquis [mah key'], the scrub biome of the Mediterranean basin. The climate has hot, dry summers, cool, moist winters, and strong sunlight. Prior to the intervention of humans, wildfires maintained the maquis community. Cork oaks are broadleaved evergreens adapted to surviving the extreme summers and once-frequent fires. (Biology of Plants, Peter H. Raven, Ray F. Evert, and Susan E. Eichhorn, 5^th Edition, Worth Publishers, 1992)

Cork oaks produce a unique bark. Phloem and xylem derive from the cambium, a thin cylinder of actively dividing cells in the trunk and branches. Phloem tissue is created to the outside of the cambium; xylem to the inside.

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Cork from Quercus suber Linnaeus

As the tree grows in diameter, xylem becomes wood; phloem becomes bark. In the cork oak, the cambium is called the "mother of cork".

Unlike most trees that shed the outermost layers of bark, the cork oak retains its bark. The bark is insulating--it protects the living cambium from heat. The bark is lightweight, crossed by lenticels or pores that allow the exchange of gases between the living cells and the atmosphere. The bark is fire-resistant; the outer layers will char, but not burn, during a wildfire. And the bark contains suberin, a polymer of lipids (fats) laid down in the cell walls that 'waterproofs' the tissues.

When a cork oak is fifteen to twenty years old, it blooms for the first time. This is the age when cork is first harvested. Harvesters carefully cut the cork and split it away from the "mother". The bark is craggy and irregular in quality. This first harvest bark is called "male cork". Unsuitable for most applications, these slabs of bark are used to grow orchids and other epiphytes.

Every eight to ten years, the cork will be harvested again. Succeeding harvests are known as "female cork". Second generation cork is still not the best; it is used for items like floats for fishing nets. The older the oak, the finer quality of cork it produces. The tree will continue to lay down cork and be harvested until it is 150 years of age, although a few trees have made to 250. ("Cork", 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica)

The final harvest of cork takes the "mother". The cambium contains tannin; it will be extracted to tan hides for leather. With the living "mother" gone, the cork oak dies. Its extremely hard wood will become fuel and charcoal. But two thousand years ago, "...around Elis and Sparta, they use wood from the cork-tree...especially in chariot- or carriage-makers' workshops." ("Book XVI", Natural History, Pliny the Elder, trans. John F. Healy, 1991)

The Lot-Et-Garonne County Council has a beautiful virtual museum, The Cork and Bottle Cork Museum. To tour the exhibit, click on the link:

http://www.lot-et-garonne.fr/html/MuseeMezinAng/Html/index.htm

Links are in the upper right corner.

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killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Suggested Reading:

What is one of nature's most unique items? Plants that Changed History - December 30, 2003
What tree saved soldiers in the English Channel? Plants that Changed History - December 24, 2002
What is a California sister? Renfield's Garden - February 18, 2004
How do oaks wage war? Weird Plants - November 8, 2001

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