Oaks of the World

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  Quercus glabrescens
Author Benth. 1840 Pl. Hartw. 56, 348
Synonyms glabrescens var. integrifolia Liebm. 1864
arachnoidea Trel. 1924
martensiana f. berlandieri Trel. 1924
Local names quebracho;
Range Mexico (Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Tlaxcala, Veracruz); 2500-3400 m; introduced in England by Hartweg in 1839;
Growth habit 3-4 m tall usually, but may reach to 15 m;
Leaves

4-10 x 1.5-4 cm; deciduous; stiff, subcoriaceous to coriaceous; oblanceolate, elliptic or obovate; 2-2.5 times longer than wide ; apex acute or obtuse, with mucronate tip; base rounded or cordate, sometimes cuneate; margin cartilaginous, slightly revolute, crenate or dentate with apically 3-5 pairs of mucronate teeth; shiny dark green, rugose and glabrous above except few stellate hairs on midrib; paler beneath, glabrous or with some fasciculate, sessile hairs with crispate rays; 10-14 rather straight vein pairs, impressed above; epidermis lustrous, papillose, sometimes slightly bullate, rarely flat, with prominent veins beneath; petiole 3-10 mm long, glabrescent or covered with sessile fasciculate hairs and acicular unicellular ones, appressed ;

Flowers in February to May; staminate catkins 2 cm long, with 20-30 flowers; pistillate catkins 1-1.8 cm long, 1 to 3-flowered, with glabrescent rachis;
Fruits acorn mucronate, ovoid, 1.6-2.1 cm long, 1.3-1.7 cm in diameter; solitary or to 3 together, sessile or on a glabrous, 4-5 mm long stalk; enclosed 1/3 by cup; cup brown tomentose, 1-2 cm in diameter, without warty scales; maturing first year in September-October;

Bark, twigs and
buds

grey bark peeling into square, thin plates; twigs 1-2.5 mm wide, scarcely pubescent, coffee-coloured with evident pale yellow lenticels; bud ovoid to round, 2.5-3 mm long, glabrous or remotely pubescent near base, ciliate along margin, ovatel scales; stipules 7 mm long, glabrescent, persistent on terminal bud;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy; all types of soils, prefers moist ones; cultivated in Holland; slow growing;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 211;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Series Leucomexicanae;
-- Possible confusion with Q. lancifolia, which has narrower leaves (2.5-3.5 times longer than wider) with the adaxial surface not rugose.

Subspecies and
varieties
var. radlkoferiana (Trel.) A.Camus 1935   (A. Camus : n° 212)
= Quercus radlkoferiana Trel. 1924 Diagnosis here
less than 3 m tall; Oaxaca, Mexico, Veracruz; for today's Mexican Authors (S. Valencia-A. 2004) and for Govaerts 2007, it is a synonym of Q.glabrescens.

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