Oaks of the World

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  Quercus merrillii
Author Seemen 1908
Synonyms Cyclobalanopsis merrillii (Seem.) Schottky 1912
Local names
Range Borneo; The Philippines; 100 to 500 m;
Growth habit usually small shrub 2 m tall; may reach 10 m, with a trunk to 20 cm in diameter; ;
Leaves 2-5 x 1-2 cm; leathery but thin; oval, oboval or elliptic; apex obtuse; base attenuate; margin entire or remotely serrulate in apical 1/2; initially densely pubescent both sides, late-glabrescent; shiny green above, whitish beneath; 6-8 pairs of secondary veins, parallel, forming an angle of 50-60° with the midrib, flat or impressed adaxially, raised beneath; petiole 2-3 cm long, flat obove, densely tomentose, glabrescent;
Flowers male catkins 3-4 cm long, with golden brown hairs; male flowers solitary, perianth 6-lobed with golden pubescence, 6-7 stamens; female inflorescence 1-4-flowered, 1-2 cm long, hairy; female flowers tomentose, perianth 4-5-lobed, ovary conical, 3 styles 1-2 cm long;
Fruits acorn 2-3 cm; ovoid, conical or cylindrical; brown, hairless, apex acute, base rounded; enclosed 1/4 or 1/3 by stalkless cup; cupule with 4-8 finely denticulate rings; fruiting between April and August;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark slightly flaky, greyish brown; twig red brown, villous at first, then becoming glabrescent, with numerous lenticels; terminal buds ovoid or conical, 3 mm long; stipules linear, acute, deciduous, 0.5-1 cm long;
Hardiness zone, habitat not hardy;
Miscellaneous

-- A. Camus : tome 1, p. 210, n° 14;
-- Sub-genus Cyclobalanopsis;
-- Section Semiserrata, sub-section Chrysotrichae (Menitsky).
-- Threatened (IUCN Red List Category : VU).
-- The only one oak species in The Phillipines (in Palawan);
-- E.D. Merrill, American botanist;

Subspecies and
varieties
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