Oaks of the World

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  Quercus cortesii
Author Liebm. 1854 Overs. Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Forh. Medlemmers Arbeider 1854: 175

Diagnosis here
Synonyms brenesii Trel. 1924 Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 20: 186 1924.  (A. Camus : n° 398) Diagnosis here
gracilior C.H.Mull. 1942 Misc. Publ. U.S. Dept. Agric. 477: 77 (A.Camus : n° 397) Diagnosis here
Local names
Range Mexico (Puebla, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz) 1800 m; Honduras; Belize; Costa Rica 600 - 1500 m; Nicaragua to 1200-1600 m; Panama ;
Growth habit 8-25 m, but may reach 40 m; trunk broad and short;
Leaves 8-14 x 1.5-3 cm; deciduous; lanceolate or narrowly elliptic; subleathery; apex acute, attenuate, aristate; base cuneate and attenuate; margin cartilaginous, slightly revolute, with 2-5 pairs of not divergent aristate teeth towards apical 1/2; dark green, lustrous, soon glabrescent above; paler and glabrous beneath except a few persistent stellate trichomes along midrib, without glandular hairs; midrib slightly prominent adaxially; 10-15 veins pairs, straight, parallel (sometimes slightly winding), impressed adaxially, strongly raised abaxially; petiole 6-15 mm;
Flowers staminate inflorescences 5-10 cm; pistillate inflorescences 0.5-1 cm, 1-2 flowered;
Fruits acorn 1.4-2 cm, mucronate, rusty pubescent; 1-2 on peduncle 4-8 mm; enclosed 1/3 or 1/2 by cup; cup half-round or top-shaped, with oval, thin, pointed, pubescents, coffee-coloured scales; matures in Autumn of the same year;

Bark, twigs and
buds

young bark smooth, grey; twigs 1-2.5 mm thick, glabrous or rarely pubescent with short rayed trichomes, dark coffee-coloured; lenticels pale, prominent; bud ovoid, 2-4 mm long, glabrous with ciliate scales;
Hardiness zone, habitat wet forests; not quite hardy;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 401;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, Series Erythromexicanae, Group Acutifoliae;
-- Hybridizes with
Q.salicifolia in Costa-Rica, and with Q.benthamii in Honduras;
-- Closely related to
Q.sartorii Liebm., species considered as a synonym of Q.xalapensis by S.Romero Rangel 2006, though xalapensis has acorns maturing in 2 years;

-- Q. brenesii is often considered as a true species, although closely related (See the Taxonomical revision of Acutifoliae by S. Romero Rangel), differing from Q.cortesii in having fewer secondary veins (7 to 11, showing a "s" shape before entering the teeth) and divergent teeth; also Q. brenesii has a yellowish green colour of the upper side of the blade, with possible amber glandular trichomes. Mexico (Veracruz); Nicaragua; Costa Rica; 600-1700 m;

-- Moreover, Q. gracilior (C.H. Muller Misc. Publ. U.S. Dept. Agric. 477: 77 1942) is likely considered as a true species.

Subspecies and
varieties
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Exsiccata
brenesii