Oaks of the World

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  Quercus castanea
Author

Née 1801 Anales Ci. Nat. 3: 276 1801

Diagnosis here
Synonyms alamosensis Trel. 1924
axillaris E. Fourn. ex Trel. 1924   (A. Camus : 317)
castanea A.DC
castanea var. elliptica Trel. 1924
circummontana Trel. 1924
consociata Trel. 1924
crassivenosa Trel. 1924  (A. Camus : 309)
impressa Trel. 1924     (A. Camus : 381)
lanigera Martens & Galeotti 1843    (A. Camus : 373)
mucronata Willd. 1805
pulchella Bonpl. 1809 Diagnosis here
rossii Trel. 1924
rossii Trel. fo. arsenei Trel. 1934
scherzeri Trel. 1924
seleri Trel. 1924
serrulata Trel. 1924
simillima Trel. 1924
spathulistipula Trel.1934
subcrispata Trel. 1924
tepoxuchilensis Trel. 1924   (A. Camus : 378)
tristis Liebm. 1854   (A. Camus : 376) Diagnosis here
verrucosirama Trel. 1924     (A. Camus : 379)
Local names Encino cascara roja;
Range Mexico (Colima, Chiapas, Mexico, Michoacan, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Veracruz); Guatemala; 800 - 2600 m (to 3500 m in Guatemala);
Growth habit 8-25 m tall; trunk to 40 cm and more in diameter; crown 4-8 m. diam.;
Leaves 3-10 x 2-4 cm; leathery, stiff; elliptic, lanceolate, oblanceolate or elliptic-oblong; apex obtuse to pointed, shortly aristate; base obtuse, subcordate, truncate or slightly oblique; margin flat or weakly revolute, cartilaginous, with 1-7 pairs of short aristate teeth in the distal half or 2/3, but sometimes entire (only aristate, without teeth), or toothed only near apex; green, dull, rough, mostly glabrous (except near petiole) above; tomentose beneath with stellate (13-18 crispate rays), stipitate trichomes and sometimes glandular simple hairs, at first yellow then whitish grey, sometimes glabrescent; epidermis abaxially lustrous, bullate; 5-12 pairs of lateral veins slightly impressed above, raised beneath; petiole light yellow brown, more or less pubescent, 3-12 mm long;
Flowers May-June ; male catkins 6 cm long, pubescent, with 20-30 flowers; female inflorescences 0.3-0.5 cm with 1-2 flowers;
Fruits acorn 5-15 mm, broadly ovoid ; singly or paired, sessil or on a stout stalk 2-5 mm long; enclosed 1/3 in cup; cup halfround to obconical, 7-12 x 3-7 mm, with straight rim and thin pubescent scales; maturing in 1 year, from October to January;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark dark grey, smooth, becoming furrowed con plates; twigs 1-2 mm thick, sulcate, coffee tomentose, glabrescent; few inconspicuous lenticels; bud ovoid, ellipsoid to conical, rounded to pointed, light brown, 1.8-4 mm long, 1.4 mm wide, scales ovate ciliate at margin; stipule soon deciduous;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy zone 8; prefers dry, well drained soils;
Miscellaneous

-- A. Camus : n° 375;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Lobatae, Subsection Erythromexicanae;
-- For Tracey Parker (Trees of Guatemala, 2008), Q. tristis is a true species. In 2017, for S. Valencia-A. as well it is a true species, especially the specimens collected in Chiapas and Guatemala, with the abaxial surface of the leaves completely glabrous, but she thinks that additional studies, mailny with molecular characters, should be done to make the best decision.

-- Resembles Q. scytophylla which differs in having multiradiate trichomes below with more rays (24-36), the epidermis dull, whitish, papillose beneath, the foliar base acute to attenuate sometimes oblique, the veins impressed above.
-- Resembles as well Q. sideroxyla which differs in having multiradiate hairs below with 20-30 rays, the abaxial epidermis dull, whitish, papillose.
-- Q. castanea has often been confused with Q. eduardi and Q. crassipes : Q. eduardi differs in its flat epidermis, flat adaxial blade surface, and fasciculate sessile contorted trichomes on the abaxial surface. Q. crassipes has fasciculate stipitate trichomes on the lower blade surface, the margin is entire, and the cups have an involute rim.
Subspecies and
varieties 		-- Q. castanea var. tridens (Bonpl.)A.DC 1864
= Q.tridens Bonpl. 1809
sometimes regarded as a synonym for Q.laurina (S. Valencia-A., 2004); for Govaerts & Frodin it is a true species; sometimes less than 3 m. Mexico (Hidalgo);

-- Hybrids with Q. eduardi, Q. sapotifolia

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