Oaks of the World

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  Quercus insignis
Author Mart. & Gal. 1843 Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 10(1): 219
Synonyms davidsoniae Standl. 1940
schippii Standl. 1935
seibertii CH Muller 1942 Diagnosis here
tomentocaulis C.H.Muller 1950 Diagnosis here
Local names encino bornio;
Range Central America (Belize, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica); Mexico (Oaxaca, Veracruz); 200 to 2000 m;
Growth habit to 30 m usually, but reaches 40 m with trunk to 1 m wide; trunk straight; crown rounded;
Leaves

10-25 x 4-9 cm; semi-evergreen; oblong to oboval or elliptic; thick and stiff; apex pointed shortly acuminate; base obtuse to cordate, often asymmetrical; margin revolute, entire or remotely wavy or dentate-serrate, with 4-10 pairs of small mucronate teeth at apical 3/4; dark green adaxially, slightly lustrous, glabrous except stalkless, stellate, shortly rayed hairs along midrib; pale yellow green beneath, somewhat lustrous, glabrous or with some stalkless, stellate hairs mostly along midrib; 10-20 vein pairs, pubescent; epidermis bullate and papillose; petiole densely tomentose 07-2 cm long;

Flowers March to July; staminate catkins 9-11 cm long; rachis of pistillate inflorescence bears 1 to 4 flowers;
Fruits big flattened acorn, 3-4 cm long, 4-7 cm in diameter; solitary or paired; sessile or on short peduncle 0.5 cm; pericarp hairless inside; enclosed 1/3 by cup; cup turbinate, 4-8 cm wide, with silvery pubescent scales; maturing in 1 year from July to October;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark pale grey brown, scaly; twig stout, 4-6 mm thick, tawny and persistently pubescent, with numerous pale greyish lenticels; bud 4-8 mm, ovoid; stipules 7-15 mm long, sometimes persistent around buds;
Hardiness zone, habitat not hardy (zone 9); all types of soils; tropical wet montane forests;
Miscellaneous -- A. Camus : n° 280;
-- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Series Leucomexicanae;
-- Threatened (IUCN Red List Category : EN).
-- Hybrids with
Q.lancifolia , named Q.galeottii Mart. & Gal.1843;

Subspecies and
varieties
Q.strombocarpa Liebm. 1854 (A.Camus n° 281) Diagnosis here
= Q. insignis var. strombocarpoides Liebm. 1869
closely related to Q.insignis : leaves 8-18 x 5-9 cm; acorn shortly conical, 4-5 cm long, enclosed 1/3 by cup;
Mexico (Veracruz); for S. Valencia-A.(2004) and for the Flora of Nicaragua 2002, it is a synonym of Q. insignis.

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