Oaks of the World

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  Quercus lowii
Author King 1889 Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 2: 28
Synonyms Cyclobalanopsis lowii (King) Schottky 1912
Local names
Range Borneo; 1500-2500 m
Growth habit not exceeding 20 m; trunk to 0.4 m in diameter;
Leaves 7-10 cm x 3.5-4.5; thick and coriaceous; narrowly oval; apex acute or acuminate; base rounded to heart-shaped, sometimes asymmetrical; margin entire or remotely serrulate in the upper half; adaxially glossy, hairless or dull with sparse stellate hairs on midrib; beneath tomentose with brownish stellate hairs, late-glabrescent; 5-8 vein pairs, parallel, forming an angle of 35-40° with the midrib; petiole pubescent, glabrescent, adaxially grooved, 1-2 cm long;
Flowers June-July; male catkins slender, 5-10 cm long, tomentose; male flowers solitary or to 3, perianth 5-6-lobed, tomentose, glabrescent, 4-6 stamens, pistillode replaced by fine woolly hairs; female inflorescence 1-2 cm long, 2-5-flowered; female flowers perianth 4-7-lobed, hairy, ovary conical, 3-6 styles 1 mm long;
Fruits acorn 2 cm long, 1.5 cm in diameter; conical, ovoid to cylindrical, glabrescent, apex obtuse, base convex; enclosed 1/4 to 1/3 by halround cup; sometimes two fruits in the same cupule; cup with 4-5 denticulate, concentric rings; ripe from August to March;

Bark, twigs and
buds

dark grey, rough bark; young shoot dark grey, shallowly fissured, initially densely pubescent with stellate trichomes, late-glabrescent, lenticellate; terminal buds ovoid to subglobose, densely tomentose; stipules linear, acute, 2-4 mm long;
Hardiness zone, habitat not  hardy; tropical mountain forests; ultra basic soils;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : tome 1, p. 365, n° 85;
-- Sub-genus Cerris, Section Cyclobalanopsis;
-- Section Oidocarpa, sub-section Niveae (Menitsky).
-- Named after Sir Hugh Low, 1824–1905; officer of the British East India Company; plant collector.

Subspecies and
varieties
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