The cork oak, cork oak, or cork oak (scientific name: Quercus suber) is a tree related to the oak, grown in Southern Europe and from which cork is extracted. The cork oak, along with the maritime pine, is one of the most prevalent tree species in Portugal, being most common in the coastal Alentejo and the Algarve mountains.
Thanks to cork, the cork oak has been cultivated since ancient times. Cork extraction is not (generally speaking) harmful to the tree, as it produces a new layer of "bark" (cork bark) with the same thickness every 9 years, after which it is subjected to a new stripping process. More mechanized and safer processes have recently been developed to carry out this operation, such as the machine that cuts the cork, avoiding injuries that are harmful to the life of the cork oak and which makes the work of the cork harvesters easier, without replacing them, thus increasing productivity. It can be up to 20 m tall, but is normally 15 m long.
The cork oak was also part of the natural vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula, being spontaneous in many places in Portugal and Spain, where, before the action of Man, it formed leafy forests in association with other species, namely of the Quercus genus.