corky bark oak (suber)

Gabby Salts says...
Hi,

Oaks hybridise easily so even if someone gets you an acorn from a female cork oak it would have to be fertilised by a male cork oak to be true to type. If you do manage to get an acorn at this time of year it might not be viable as they are very prone to desiccation and will have either germinated if somewhere moist, or dried out and will not germinate. Good luck.
If you want some Q. robur or atlas cedar seedlings let me know as I have several, will have to look at quarantine from Melbourne however.... not sure if either would take kindly to bare rooting at this time of year either.
Gabby

Gabby Salts says...
Hi Domenic, I don't have any seedlings for cork oaks only English oaks (Q. Robur) send me an email my username with no spaces at gmail dot com if you want me to post you one. I am in Vic you might want to check quarantine rules if you are interstate. I am a home gardener not a nursery, so I have no special quarantine exemptions.
With relation to the bark it doesn't matter if the tree you get is male or female, as long as both the parents were cork oaks. If you collect acorns from a female cork oak you might get a hybrid as it was fertilised by a male of another species such as a Holm oak. Then you are at the mercy of genetics to see how much cork you end up with, perhaps almost as much as a full breed cork oak, or perhaps only as much as the Holm oak, but more likely somewhere in between. Luck of the draw.