| Quercus mexia | |
| Author | L.M. González 2018 Ibugana 2018 vol.9 pp. 47-71 |
| Synonyms | |
| Local names | encino blanco, encino colorado, |
| Range | West Mexico, Sierra Madre del Sur (Jalisco, Nayarit); 600-2500 m; |
| Growth habit | to 10-15 m tall, twisted trunk; |
| Leaves | 8-15(-20) cm x 4-6(-10); coriaceous; oblong or oblong-elliptic, sometimes obovate, seldom ovate; apex rounded to obtuse, without bristle tip; variable base : round, cordate, truncate, sometimes oblique or cuneate; margin entire often wavy and sometimes revolute; adaxially lustrous, glabrescent with scattered, 5-7-rayed multiradiate trichomes; abaxially with fasciculate-stipitate 2-6-rayed trichomes, long and tangled, becoming glabrous except on axils; 5-13 veins pairs, impressed above, prominent beneath, straight usually, parallel; conspicuous tertiary veins; petiole 1-3.5 cm long, slender, grey-brown, pubescent. |
| Flowers | March to May; male catkins tomentose, 5-10 cm long, with 30-50 flowers; pistillate catkins at axils, solitary or 2-4- clustered, on a short peduncle less than 1 cm long. |
| Fruits | acorn 1-1.5 cm long, conical, light brown, truncate at base, 1/3 enclosed by cup; cup halfround, shallow, 10-15 mm in diameter, with triangular, appressed, densely pubescent scales; maturing in 2 years from June to August; |
|
Bark, twigs and |
corky bark, grey-brown, fissured into square plates; twig 4-6 mm thick, pubescent, with prominent foliar scares; bud narrowly ovoid or oblong-elliptic, 6-12 mm long, acute, with tomentose scales; numerous small, pale lenticels; stipules deciduous, ciliate at margin, 1-1.8 cm long; |
| Hardiness zone, habitat | wet forests; |
| Miscellaneous | -- Sub-genus Quercus,
Section Lobatae, Series Erythromexicanae; -- Similar to Q. aristata, which differs in having aristate foliar apex, sometimes aristae in the apical margin part, a petiole less than 1 cm long, ovoid buds 3-6 mm long, leaves abaxially with short, straight, 6-12-rayed fasciculate trichomes; -- Possible confusion with Q. coffeicolor, which has subcoriaceous leaves with aristate apex, male catkins hairless, completely different habitat (dry rocky soils); |
| Subspecies and varieties |
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| Pictures |
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