Species

Quercus oleoides Schltdl. & Cham.

NT

Known Hybrids (1)

Synonyms (3)

lutescens retusa virens A.DC
Data from Oaks of the World

Geographic Range

Mexico (Campeche, Vera Cruz, Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Tabasco, Yucatan); Central America (Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua); Texas; 150-1100 m;

Growth Habit

5-10 m tall usually, but may reach 30 m, with trunk 50-70 cm in diameter; sometimes shrub 1-3 m tall; crown dense, branched; cylindrical trunk;

Leaves

3-8 x 1,5-4 cm; deciduous; elliptic or rhombic, oboval to oblanceolate; leathery; apex round or obtuse, seldom acute, mucronate; base attenuate, sometimes slightly cuneate; margin thickened, slightly revolute, entire or sometimes with 1-4 pairs of mucronate teeth in apical half (leaves of young plants are likely dentate from just above the base); olive-green, slightly lustrous above, hairless or with scarce stellate trichomes toward the base of the blade; yellowish grey to brownish-grey beneath, densely covered with stellate, appressed, short trichomes (observed only under a microscope , and appearing glabrous to naked eye); 5-8 vein pairs, impressed above, raised beneath; épidermis papillose; petiole 4-12 mm long, yellowish, pubescent;

Flowers

May; staminate inflorescences glabrous, 2-4 cm long; pistillate inflorescences 2-4 cm, bearing 2-3 flowers;

Fruits

acorn 1.5 to 2.5 cm long, 1-1.2 cm in diameter; broadly elliptic, mucronate; shiny dark brown at maturity (pale green when young); hairless; singly or paired; sessile or on a peduncle 1-4 cm long; enclosed 1/3 by cup; cup half-round or obconical to turbinate, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, with free tomentose scales; maturing in 1 year, from September to December;

Common Names

encino tesmosl tresmoles encino negro roblecito hojaviushi

Additional Information

– A. Camus : n° 170 ; – Sub-genus Quercus, Section Virentes; – Close to to Q. fusiformis with which a confusion is possible, but Q. fusiformis has narrowly oval or lanceolate or oblong leaves, and an acorn spindle-shaped; – Most often, Q. oleoides occurs at lower altitudes than any other species in the genus. It is considered a species of tropical distribution.

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