Oaks of the World

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  Quercus calophylla
Author Schltdl. & Cham. 1830 Linnaea 5: 79 1830.
Synonyms acuminata Martens & Galeotti 1843, not Sarg.
alamo Benth. 1840
candicans Née 1801 Anales Ci. Nat. 3: 277 1801.
candicans f. michoacana Trel. 1924
chimaltenangana f. gemmata C.H.Muller 1937
flavida Liebm. 1854 Diagnosis here
intermedia Martens & Galeotti 1843
umbrosa Endl. 1848
Local namesencino aguacatillo; encino de asta; ahuamextli;
RangeMexico (Michoacan, Jalisco, Guerrero, Durango, Querretaro, Hidalgo, Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Puebla, and others); Guatemala ; 1200 - 2700 m
Growth habit8-25 m ; trunk 20-80 cm to 1 m diam.;
Leaves 10-20 x 5-12 cm; oboval or elliptic; thick, leathery; apex aristate, pointed; base subcordate to truncate; margin flat, cartilaginous, toothed apically (5-8 teeth pairs in the distal 1/2 or 1/4), sometimes entire (but always with aristae); lustrous green, slightly rough, almost glabrous above (sometimes with stellate hairs near base and along the midvein); whitish tomentose beneath (yellow when dry), tomentum made of sessile, stellate, appressed hairs and simple glandular ones; 8-15 pairs of straight secondary veins, prominent beneath; petiole 1.3-2 cm, hairy; epidermis bullate;
Flowers staminate catkins 5-6 cm long, villous, 20-flowered; pistillate ones 2-5 flowered, 1.5-3 cm long;
Fruits acorn 1.5-2 cm long, 1.5 cm wide; ovoid, light brown, becoming glabrous; solitary or paired, on a 0.5-15 mm long stalk; enclosed 1/3 by the cup; cup hemispherical, 1.5-2 cm wide, with narrow glabrous scales; maturing in 1 or 2 years;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark grey, furrowred; twigs 2-3 mm diam., with yellow pubescence first, becoming glabrous and dark red, with inconspicuous lenticels; buds pointed, broadly ovoid, 3-6 mm; stipules 1-1.5 cm long, soon deciduous;
Hardiness zone, habitata little tender (zone 8); prefers calcareous soils; wet montane forests;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 402;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae;
-- In 2017, S. Valencia & al. has demonstrated that the type-specimen of this taxon (in the herbarium of Madrid, Spain), does not fit with the description; hence the name of Q. candicans is no more valid, and the Author thinks that the valid name Q. calophylla Schltdl. & Cham. 1830 must be used from now on.
Subspecies and
varieties
 
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