A young cork oak tree

This one is really young. Cork oaks can grow for about 200 years, producing cork for about 150 of those years.


Cork is actually the park of the tree. It is split off between the inner heartwood, and the outer bark. It does not contain any phloem or xylem, but cutting it off does harm the phloem tubes slightly.

However, this species is extremely resilient, and so it survives the rough treatment, and actually grows back another layer of secondary cork. This can then be removed again, and the cycle repeats itself.

As such, cork is harvested every 9 years from each tree.

Did you know that cork was so valuable, that since the early 1500s, chopping down a cork tree was a serious crime. Even today, there is a huge fine in cork producing countries (such as portugal) for cutting down cork trees. You have to get a permit to do so.