Oaks of the World

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

  Quercus sinuata
Author Walt. 1788 Fl. Carol. 235
Synonyms durandii Buckley 1861 (Camus n° 263).
undulata Engelm. 1878
Local names bastard oak ; bastard white oak ; Durand oak ;
Range USA (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas); Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas); to 600 m;
Growth habit often a shrub, but may reach 20 metres tall; crown rounded; single trunk;
Leaves 4-12 x 2.5-6 cm; oblanceolate to oblong; apex broadly rounded; base cuneate; margin entire or with few lobes or only wavy near apex; dull green, hairless above; dull green, pubescent beneath with 8-10 rays stellate hairs, sometimes hairless; 7-11 vein pairs; petiole 3-5 mm long;
Flowers in March; pistillate inflorescence very short, bearing 1 or 2 cups;
Fruits acorn 1,2-1.8 cm; almost round or ovoid to oblong; brown; sessile or nearly so; singly or paired; cup shallow, enclosing 1/4 or less of nut, with appressed, smooth, greyish scales; maturing in 1 year in October;

Bark, twigs and
buds

bark light grey, thin, scaly; twig tawny, hairless or minutely pubescent, rough; buds brown, ovoid, 2-6 cm long, hairless but ciliate margin;
Hardiness zone, habitat hardy zone 5-6; all types of soils; prefers moist, calcareous sites;
Miscellaneous -- Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Series Stellatae;
-- This taxon has been often confused with Q.nigra, because of the likeness of leaves, but the latter belongs to the Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, therefore they have nothing in common !
-- Elias Magloire Durand (1794-1873) = botanist at Philadelphia ;
-- Hybridizes with Q.stellata (= x macnabiana)

--The term "undulata" inspired numerous Authors ! One can list the following :
Q.undulata Engelm 1878 (= Q.sinuata Walt.),
Q.undulata Kit.1863 (= Q.pubescens Willd.),
Q.undulata Benth. 1841 (= Q.benthamii A.DC),
Q.undulata K.Koch 1847 (= Q.lusitanica Lam.),
Q.undulata Torr 1827 (= Q.x undulata complex Little 1979),
Q.undulata Sarg., and A.DC ( describing more or less Q.x pauciloba ...),
Q.undulata S. Wats. (= Q.gambelii Nutt.) ;

-- The term "durandii" is currently considered as "nomen confusum", because it was given by Buckley to some taxons he considered as varieties, whereas we know today they are separate species (= Q.austrina, Q.sinuata var. sinuata and Q.sinuata var. breviloba);
Subspecies and
varieties

- var. sinuata 
the type described

- var. breviloba (Torr.) C.H.Muller 1944 J. Arnold Arbor. 25: 439
= Q.annulata Buckl.1861
= Q.breviloba (Torr.) Sarg. 1895
= Q.durandii var. breviloba (Torr.) Palmer 1945
= Q.sinuata subsp breviloba (Torr.) E.Murray 1983
= Q.sansabeana Buckl. ex M.J.Young 1873
= Q.durandii var. sansabeana (Buckl. ex M.J.Young) Buckl. 1883
= Q.obtusifolia var. breviloba Torr. 1859
= Q.undulata var. obtusifolia A.DC 1864
= Q.undulata var. breviloba (Torr.) Engelm. 1877
= Q.pseudocrispata A.Camus 1939
"Palmer white shin oak" ; " Bigelow oak"
shrub 5-6 metres tall, often multiple trunks, with thicker, deeper furrowed bark; petiole 2-3 mm long; leaves 3-6 x 2-4 cm, oblong to oblanceolate, wavy, smaller than those of var. sinuata, with shallow lobes, silvery beneath; 7-11 vein pairs, slightly raised adaxially, strongly prominent beneath; cup enclosing 1/4 of nut, sometimes more; acorn smaller than in the tyoe, oblong, 0,7-1,2 cm long; Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico ; 200-600 m, in dryer zones than the type;
Pictures