Oaks of the World

General data Classifications List of species Local names Back to
home page

  Quercus merrillii
Author Seemen 1908
Synonyms Cyclobalanopsis merrillii (Seem.) Schottky 1912
Local names
Range Borneo; The Philippines; 100 to 500 m;
Growth habit usually small shrub 2 m tall; may reach 10 m, with a trunk to 20 cm in diameter; ;
Leaves 2-5 x 1-2 cm; leathery but thin; oval, oboval or elliptic; apex obtuse; base attenuate; margin entire or remotely serrulate in apical 1/2; initially densely pubescent both sides, late-glabrescent; shiny green above, whitish beneath; 6-8 pairs of secondary veins, parallel, forming an angle of 50-60° with the midrib, flat or impressed adaxially, raised beneath; petiole 2-3 cm long, flat obove, densely tomentose, glabrescent;
Flowers male catkins 3-4 cm long, with golden brown hairs; male flowers solitary, perianth 6-lobed with golden pubescence, 6-7 stamens; female inflorescence 1-4-flowered, 1-2 cm long, hairy; female flowers tomentose, perianth 4-5-lobed, ovary conical, 3 styles 1-2 cm long;
Fruits acorn 2-3 cm; ovoid, conical or cylindrical; brown, hairless, apex acute, base rounded; enclosed 1/4 or 1/3 by stalkless cup; cupule with 4-8 finely denticulate rings; fruiting between April and August;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark slightly flaky, greyish brown; twig red brown, villous at first, then becoming glabrescent, with numerous lenticels; terminal buds ovoid or conical, 3 mm long; stipules linear, acute, deciduous, 0.5-1 cm long;
Hardiness zone, habitat not hardy;
Miscellaneous

-- A. Camus : n° 14;
-- Sub-genus Cyclobalanopsis;
-- Section Semiserrata, sub-section Chrysotrichae (Menitsky).
-- Threatened (IUCN Red List Category : VU).
-- The only one oak species in The Phillipines (in Palawan);
-- E.D. Merrill, American botanist;

Subspecies and
varieties
Pictures