Oaks of the World

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  Quercus fusiformis
Author Small 1903 Fl. S.E. U.S. 353
Synonyms virginiana var. fusiformis (Small) Sarg.1918
virginiana subsp fusiformis (Small) E.Murray 1983
virginiana var. macrophylla Sarg. 1918
oleoides var. quaterna C.H.Muller 1951
Local names plateau oak ; Texas live oak ; escarpment live oak ; scrub live oak ;
Range Texas, Oklahoma ; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas); 0-1200 m ;
Growth habit reaches 8 m, but also spreading shrub 1.5-3 m tall;
Leaves 2-7 x 1-2 cm; evergreen; leathery; oblong, lanceolate or narrowly oval; apex acute or obtuse, with a short mucro; base cuneate or obtuse or truncate; margin entire or often with 3-4 pairs of teeth, weakly revolute; grey green, usually glabrous and bright above, with sometimes some stellate, sparse hairs; pale, blue green tomentose beneath, with stellate hairs and some glandular ones; 6-11 vein pairs, inconspicuous above, slightly raised beneath; epidermis bullate ; petiole tomentose 3-8 mm long;
Flowers spring; male inflorescence 3-5 cm long; female inflorescence 1,5-5,5 cm, with 2-3 flowers, sometimes more;
Fruits

acorn long ovoid to spindle-shaped, 1,5-2 cm long, glabrous, striate, on 3-8 mm long peduncle, solitary or 2-3 together; cup with greyish hairs, turbinate or obconical, 1 cm in diameter, with scales thickenned near base, covering 1/3 to 1/4 of nut; cotyledons connate; maturing in 1 year, in October;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark as in Q.virginiana (blackish brown, scaly); twigs light grey, slightly tomentose, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, with inconspicuous lenticels; bud dark brown, subglobose, pubescent, 1.5-3 mm long; stipules 2-2,5 cm long, pubescent, deciduous ;

Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; all types of soils, but prefers calcareous ones;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 172;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Virentes;
-- For some Authors, it is a variety of
Q.virginiana , very closely related to.
-- In the southern part of its range, Q.fusiformis is likely to form hybrid-complex with
Q.oleoides Schltdl.& Cham, named by C.H.Muller "Q.oleoides var. quaterna";
-- Moreover, Q.fusiformis is close also to
Q.brandegei Goldmann, endemic to Baja California (Mexico).

Subspecies and
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