Oaks of the World

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  Quercus tarahumara
Author Spellenb., J.D.Bacon & Breedlove 1995 Madroņo 42: 28
Synonyms
Local names
Range Mexico, in the North of the Sierra Madre Occidental (NE Sinaloa, NW Durango, NE Sonora, W Chihuahua); 1400-2000 m;
Growth habit reaches 12 metres tall;
Leaves 8-25 cm x10-20; broadly oboval to almost rounded; convex, thick, leathery; apex rounded or obtuse, aristate; base obtuse to heart-shaped; margin thick, revolute, cartilaginous, entire or dentate, with 4-18 pairs of small aristate teeth; dull olive green above, almost glabrous, with some stalked, stellate hairs along midvein; densely yellowish tomentose beneath with numerous golden glandular hairs and stalked stellate hairs mixed; 7-11 vein pairs; epidermis smooth, papillose; petiole hairy 1.5-6 cm long;  
Flowers in February; male catkins 10-20 cm long, with numerous flowers; pistillate inflorescences 1 cm long, few-flowered;
Fruits acorn ovoid, 0.8-1.4 cm long; solitary or paired on a peduncle less than 1 cm long; cup half-round, 1 cm in diameter, slightly hairy, enclosing 1/3 of nut; maturing in 1 year in June;  

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark fissured, greyish; twig stout, 5-10 mm thick, golden, with persistent tomentum made of stalked, stellate hairs; small pale lenticels; bud 6-10 mm long, reddish, with pubescent scales; stipules 6-15 mm, pubescent, deciduous;
Hardiness zone, habitat not hardy;
Miscellaneous

-- Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, Series Erythromexicanae, Group Racemiflorae;
-- Related to Q.urbanii which differs mainly in having 3 to 9 acorns on a 4.
5-15 cm long infrutescence, and in living in the South of the Sierra Madre Occidental;

Subspecies and
varieties
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