We characterize the L p (R 2 ) boundedness of the geometric maximal operator M a,b associated to the basis B a,b (a, b > 0) which is composed of rectangles R whose eccentricity and orientation are of the form (eR, ωR) = 1 n a , π 4n b for some n ∈ N * . The proof involves generalized Perron trees, as constructed by Hare and Röning [J. Fourier Anal. Appl. 4 (1998)].