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Arizona oak, Arizona white oak

dwarf post oak, runner oak, sand post oak

Habit Trees, evergreen or subevergreen, small to moderate-sized trees, rarely to 18 m. Bark scaly.
Bark

light gray, scaly.

Twigs

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

green or reddish, becoming gray, 1-2(-3) mm diam., glabrous.

Buds

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

reddish brown, ovoid, 2-3(-6) mm, apex obtuse, sparsely pubescent to 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 obovate to narrowly obovate, (25-)40-80(-135) × 20-40(-80) mm, base cuneate to rounded-attenuate, margins moderately to deeply lobed, lobes rounded or spatulate, sometimes middle or distal 2 lobes compound, with secondary lobe on proximal side, divergent at right angles, forming cruciform pattern, secondary veins 3-5 on each side, apex broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially light green, with interlocking, erect, 2-4(-6)-rayed stellate hairs, velvety to touch, adaxially dark green, glossy, glabrous or sparsely stellate, not harsh to touch.

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.

1-3, subsessile or on peduncle to 20 mm;

cup deeply cup-shaped, basally rounded or constricted, (7-)9-12 mm deep × 12-20 mm wide, enclosing to 3/4 nut, scales loosely appressed, finely grayish pubescent;

nut light brown, ovoid, 15-25(-30) × 9-13(-16) mm, glabrous.

Cotyledons

connate.

distinct.

Small

trees or shrubs , deciduous, to 12 m, sometimes rhizomatous.

Quercus arizonica

Quercus margarettae

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Oak and pinyon woodlands, margins of chaparral, arroyos Deep sands and gravels, often in dense woods as understory or in open scrubland and pine barrens
Elevation 1300-2500(-3000) m (4300-8200(-9800) ft) 0-600 m (0-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, and Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX; VA
[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.)

Historical records for Quercus margaretta exist for New York, but no current population is known there.

Populations of post oak in east Texas (the Cross Timbers region) on sands and gravels exhibit characteristics somewhat intermediate between Quercus stellata and Q. margaretta; most of the trees at those localities have leaves with abaxial surface similar to Q. margaretta, leaf shape more similar to Q. stellata, and twigs somewhat intermediate between the two species in diameter and varying from tightly pubescent to glabrate. Acorn characters tend toward Q. margaretta as well. These populations have been treated as Q. drummondii Liebmann, the Drummond post oak. Similar intermediates occur sporadically throughout the range of the post oaks in southeastern United States, but they do not form such continuous and morphologically stable populations; perhaps the Texas material is best treated as a nothospecies, Q. ×drummondii.

(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. Quercus
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. 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. 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. minor var. margaretta, Q. stellata var. margaretta
Name authority Sargent: Gard. & Forest 8: 92. (1895) (Ashe) J. K. Small: in J. K. Small, Fl. S.E. U.S., 355. (1903)
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