Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus arizonica

Quercus chrysolepis

Arizona oak, Arizona white oak

canyon live oak, gold cup live oak, maul oak
Habit Trees, evergreen or subevergreen, small to moderate-sized trees, rarely to 18 m. Bark scaly. Trees or shrubs, trees small to medium-sized, to 25 m, shrubs of variable size.
Twigs

yellowish, 1.5-2.5 mm diam., persistently felty-tomentose, eventually dingy gray.

branching at 60° angles or less, golden brown, 1-2 mm diam., flexible, densely pubescent 1st year, moderately so 2d year.
Buds

dull russet-brown, ovoid, distally subacute or rounded, 3 mm, sparsely pubescent or glabrate.

Leaves

blade elliptic or oblong to narrowly obovate or oblanceolate, planar or moderately convex, to (30-)40-80(-90) × 15-30 mm, thick and leathery, usually stiff, base cordate or rounded and weakly cordate, margins entire or coarsely toothed especially near apex, cartilaginously revolute, teeth mucronate-tipped, obscure or prominent, secondary veins ca. 7-11 on each side, branching, passing into teeth when present, apex acute to usually obtuse or broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially dull, sparsely pubescent or subtomentose with curly branched hairs, reticulate from prominent, raised secondary veins, usually glaucous where exposed, adaxially dark or bluish green, moderately lustrous, sparsely and minutely stellate-pubescent, secondary veins slightly raised or prominent within depressions or impressed.

blade oblong, acuminate, usually flat to slightly concave, 20-70 × 10-35 mm, thick, leathery, base obtuse to rounded, secondary veins 12 or more pairs, branching at ca. 50° angles, slightly raised abaxially, margins often slightly revolute with moderately thickened cell walls, entire to spinulose-dentate (especially on juvenile growth), regularly toothed, teeth terminating with mucronate to spinescent tip, apex acute or obtuse, mucronate to spinescent;

surfaces abaxially glabrate to pubescent with bluish white wax layer, often obscured by golden glandular and multiradiate hairs, adaxially yellowish green, scurfy with multiradiate hairs, later in season slightly pubescent.
Acorns

solitary or paired, subsessile, occasionally on peduncle to 15 mm;

cup hemispheric or cup-shaped, 5-10(-15) mm deep × 10-15 mm wide, enclosing ca. 1/2 nut, base rounded, margin rather coarse, scales cream to brown, broadly ovate, evenly and strongly tuberculate, tomentose, tips closely appressed;

nut light brown, ovoid or oblong, 8-12 mm, nearly glabrous.

solitary or paired, rarely in 3s or 4s;

cup saucer-shaped, 4-10 mm deep × 15-40 mm wide, rims often corky and thickened, scales appressed, deeply embedded in tomentum, often appearing swollen and keeled, tuberculate;

nut ovoid, 15-30 × 10-20 mm, apex blunt, glabrous;

nut scar 4-10 mm diam.
Cotyledons

connate.

Terminal

buds conic, 2-8 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins.

Quercus arizonica

Quercus chrysolepis
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering usually in spring, occasionally in fall.
Habitat Oak and pinyon woodlands, margins of chaparral, arroyos Mountain ridges, canyons, and moist slopes
Elevation 1300-2500(-3000) m (4300-8200(-9800) ft) 200-2600 m (700-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, and Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California and Chihuahua)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Some of the specimens previously referred to Quercus endemica by C. H. Muller belong here instead.

Putative hybrids between Quercus arizonica and Q. grisea (= Q. ×organensis Trelease) are problematic in local areas of contact from southeastern Arizona to western Texas. These intermediates tend to have narrower leaves than Q. arizonica, with moderately reticulate patterns of venation, and more densely hairy leaves. Quercus arizonica and Q. grisea are amply distinct elsewhere, including large areas in northern Mexico, and they appear to be more closely related to other species than to one another (e.g., Q. arizonica with Q. oblongifolia and Q. laeta Liebmann, and Q. grisea with Q. mohriana and Q. microphylla Née). Thus, Q. arizonica and Q. grisea are best treated as distinct species that hybridize, and not as conspecific populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Quercus chrysolepis is one of the most variable North American oaks. Historically, individuals with extreme variation in fruit and leaf characteristics led to the recognition of several varieties and forms; for example, shrubs with small leaves have been called Q. chrysolepis var. nana (Jepson) Jepson. Studies of quantitative and qualitative variation in these characteristics do not support the recognition of infraspecific taxa; geographic variation is apparent, however, based on populations with nearly stabilized character combinations that loosely define widespread variants. This oak is distinguished consistently from other species of the complex by the presence of multiradiate trichomes on both leaf surfaces (P. S. Manos 1993). The leaf morphology and branching habit present on juvenile growth, suckers, and shade forms may approach typical Q. palmeri. Similarly, various extreme forms often resemble other species of the complex.

Putative hybrids have been reported from narrow zones of range overlap with the three other North American species of Quercus sect. Protobalanus.

The Mendocin Indians considered the nuts of Quercus chrysolepis poisonous (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Protobalanus
Sibling taxa
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Synonyms Q. sacame Q. chrysolepis var. nana, Q. wilcoxii
Name authority Sargent: Gard. & Forest 8: 92. (1895) Liebmann: Overs. Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Forh. Medlemmers Arbeider 1854: 173. (1854)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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