Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus coccinea

Quercus laceyi

scarlet oak

lacey oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m; lower trunk without stubs of dead branches. Trees, deciduous, to 5-8(-10) m. Bark light colored, papery or scaly.
Bark

dark gray to dark brown, irregularly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orangish pink.

Twigs

reddish brown, (1-)2-3.5 mm diam., glabrous.

gray, 1.5-2 mm diam., pubescent with erect stellate hairs, these soon shed, at maturity reddish and pruinose to tan and glabrous.
Buds

brown, ovoid to ovoid-lanceoloid, 1.5-3 × 1-2 mm, apex acute, glabrous.
Leaves

blade elliptic to ovate or obovate, 70-160 × 80-130 mm, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 5-9 deep lobes and 18-50 awns, lobes distally expanded, sinuses usually extending more than 1/2 distance to midrib, apex acute;

surfaces abaxially glabrous except for minute axillary tufts of tomentum, adaxially glossy light green, glabrous, secondary veins raised on both surfaces.

blade blue-green, glaucous, obovate or elliptic, (20-)40-90(-210) × (20-)30-60(-110) mm, thin, base cuneate and decurrent on petiole to rounded or rarely somewhat cordate, margins thin, flat, entire to shallowly lobed or (rarely in shade forms) deeply lobed, lobes if present oblong, squarish, often retuse, secondary veins 6-9 on each side, each terminating in tooth or arching near margins, apex broadly rounded, retuse;

surfaces abaxially whitish, with erect stellate hairs, hairs shed as leaves expand, becoming glabrous, glaucous, adaxially glabrous, glaucous.
Acorns

biennial;

cup turbinate to hemispheric, 7-13 mm high × 16.5-31.5 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface light to dark reddish brown, glossy, glabrous to puberulent, inner surface light brown, glabrous, occasionally with ring of pubescence around scar, scales often tuberculate, base broad, glossy, margins strongly concave with tips tightly appressed, acute to attenuate;

nut oblong to subglobose, 12-22 × 10-21 mm, glabrous, with 1 or more rings of fine pits at apex, scar diam. 6.5-13.5 mm.

annual, solitary or paired, subsessile or on short peduncle to 10(-20) mm in leaf axil;

cup saucer-shaped or shallowly cup-shaped, 4-7 mm deep × 10-12(-18) mm wide, enclosing 1/3 nut or less, scales moderately tuberculate, finely tomentose;

nut oblong or barrel-shaped, often flattened at both ends, (11-)13-15(-20) × 9-11(-14) mm.
Cotyledons

distinct.
Terminal

buds dark reddish brown, conic to ovoid, 4-7 mm, noticeably 5-angled in cross section, usually silvery- or tawny-pubescent distal to middle.

2n

= 24.

Quercus coccinea

Quercus laceyi
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering in spring.
Habitat Poor soils, well-drained uplands, dry slopes, and ridges, occasionally on poorly drained sites Limestone hills, woodlands and riparian forests, canyons and streamsides
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 350-2200 m (1100-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila and Nuevo León)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trees having acorns with broad, distinctly warty cups are sometimes classified as Quercus coccinea var. tuberculata Sargent.

Quercus coccinea reportedly hybridizes with Q. imbricaria, Q. ilicifolia (= Q. ×robbinsii Trelease), Q. laevis, and Q. palustris (E. J. Palmer 1948) and with Q. phellos, Q. rubra, and Q. velutina (= Q. ×fontana Laughlin).

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

Material from Texas and northeastern Mexico, excluding the type, has been incorrectly referred to Quercus glaucoides M. Martens & Galeotti by some authors (K. C. Nixon and C. H. Muller 1992).

On the Edwards Plateau of Texas, Quercus laceyi occurs mostly at 350-600 m elevation; in Coahuila and Nuevo León, it occurs at 1500-2200 m. This species is sometimes associated with remnant mesic forests, which include Acer grandidentatum Nuttall, Tilia species, Quercus muhlenbergii Engelmann, and various pine and other oak species. The leaves are shallowly lobed or entire, although occasional specimens on moist sites are deeply lobed and resemble the leaves of Q. alba in outline.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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. coccinea var. tuberculata Q. breviloba subsp. laceyi
Name authority Münchhausen: Hausvater 5(1): 254. (1770) Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 28: 358. (1901)
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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