Tree native to the Mediterranean basin with a broad and dense crown, smooth bark until old age, gray in color. Young leaves are wide and serrated, light green and hairy; later they become longer, dark green with a whitish underside and entire edges. Male flowers are more ornamental than female ones, both yellow and gathered in racemes that appear in May. It fruits with green acorns. Transplanting should be done in late spring after a severe pruning of the crown. It is a long-lived plant that grows even in poor soils, as long as they are not too clayey. It is drought-resistant, tolerates sea winds and all types of pruning, and is also used in tall windbreak hedges, especially in coastal areas.