Oaks of the World

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  Quercus oleoides
Author Schltdl. & Cham. 1830 Linnaea 5: 79
Synonyms virens A.DC pro parte
lutescens Mart. & Gal. 1843 .
oleoides fo. lutescens (Mart. & Gal. ) Trel. 1924
oloides var. australis Trel.1924   (A. Camus : 171)
retusa Liebm. 1854 Diagnosis here
Local names encino tesmosl; tresmoles; encino negro; roblecito; hojaviushi;
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;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark dark grey brown, thick, rough; twigs 1.5-3 mm in diameter, densely stellate tomentose at first, becoming glabrescent, yellowish, with pale inconspicuous lenticels; buds subglobose or ovoid, 1.5-3 mm;
Hardiness zone, habitat not hardy; fire-resistant; prefers hot, dry soils; not very fast-growing; tropical evergreen forests;
Miscellaneous -- 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.

Subspecies and
varieties
-- Some authors (C.H. Muller) think that the variety sagraeana of Q.cubana is actually a variety of Q.oleoides.
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