Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus cornelius-mulleri

Quercus hemisphaerica

desert scrub oak, muller oak, muller's oak

Darlington oak, Darlington's oak, laurel oak, sand laurel oak
Habit Shrubs, evergreen or subevergreen, densely branched, 1-2(-3) m. Bark gray, scaly. Trees, evergreen or tardily deciduous, to 35 m. Bark much like that of Q. laurifolia.
Twigs

gray, yellowish, or brownish, 1-1.5 mm diam., densely tomentulose, rarely glabrate.

light brown to dark red-brown, 1-2.5 mm diam., glabrous.
Buds

dull brown, ovoid, 2.5-3 mm, glabrous except for margins of scales.

Leaves

blade strongly bicolored, ovate to oblong or narrowly obovate, 15-35 ×10-20 mm, rather thick and leathery, base cuneate or attenuate-rounded, margins entire or irregularly, shallowly toothed, teeth mucronate, rarely spinose, secondary veins 6-7 on each side, apex rounded or acute;

surfaces abaxially whitish, densely covered with minute, compact, appressed, (8-)10-14(-16)-rayed stellate hairs less than 0.2 mm diam. (lateral fusion of rays visible under high magnification), without glandular seriate hairs, adaxially dull, light green, grayish, or yellowish green, with scattered, appressed-stellate hairs to 0.2 mm diam.

blade narrowly ovate or elliptic to oblanceolate, 30-120 × 10-40 mm, leathery, base obtuse to rounded, rarely attenuate, margins entire or with a few shallow lobes or teeth near apex, awns 1-4 (rarely as many as 8-10 on 2d-flush growth), apex acute or acuminate, occasionally obtuse;

surfaces abaxially glabrous, rarely with minute axillary tufts of tomentum, adaxially glabrous.
Acorns

solitary or clustered, subsessile;

cup deeply cup-shaped or turbinate, to 5-13 mm deep × 12-20 mm wide, scales whitish or cream, strongly tuberculate especially near base of cup;

nut dark brown, fusiform or cylyndric, 20-30 × 10-30 mm.

biennial;

cup saucer-shaped to bowl-shaped, rarely turbinate, 3-10 mm high × 11-18 mm wide, covering 1/4-1/3 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent at least 1/2 distance to rim, scales occasionally distinctly tuberculate, tips appressed, acute to obtuse;

nut broadly ovoid to hemispheric, 9-16 × 9-16 mm, glabrate, scar diam. 6-9.5 mm.
Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

buds reddish to purplish brown, ovoid, 2.5-5 mm, glabrous or with ciliate scale margins.

Quercus cornelius-mulleri

Quercus hemisphaerica
Phenology Flowering early spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Open chaparral, pinyon and juniper woodlands, desert margins, often on loose granitic soils Moderately dry sandy soils, scrub sandhills, stream banks, occasionally on hillsides and ravines
Elevation 1000-1800 m (3300-5900 ft) 0-150 m (0-500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Quercus cornelius-mulleri is easily distinguished from other California scrub oaks by the strongly bicolored leaves, dense minute tomentum of the abaxial leaf surface, and large acute acorns in deep tuberculate cups. Of greater difficulty are swarms of putative hybrids with Q. engelmannii, sometimes referred to as Q. ×acutidens.

In Joshua Tree National Monument a lone tree and several shrubs appear to be hybrids and backcrosses between Quercus cornelius-mulleri and Q. lobata. This tree is the basis of Quercus ×munzii J. M. Tucker.

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

Quercus hemisphaerica flowers about two weeks later than sympatric Q. laurifolia (W. H. Duncan and M. B. Duncan 1988).

Most authors have treated Quercus hemisphaerica as synonymous with Q. laurifolia. M. L. Fernald (1946) carefully examined the situation and concluded that Q. hemisphaerica is a distinct entity, but C. H. Muller (1951) argued that these two taxa "...are now certainly not separable even as varieties of the same species." Later (1970), Muller recanted by recognizing Q. hemisphaerica as a common component of stream terraces along the Gulf Coast.

Quercus hemisphaerica reportedly hybridizes with Q. falcata (C. H. Muller 1970); with Q. arkansana, Q. inopina, Q. marilandica, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. phellos, Q. pumila, and Q. shumardii (D. M. Hunt 1989); and with Q. incana (producing Q. ×sublaurifolia Trelease), and Q. laevis (producing Q. ×mellichampi Trelease).

(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. Lobatae
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. coccinea, 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. 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
Name authority Nixon & K. P. Steele: Madroño 28: 210. (1981) W. Bartram ex Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 4(1): 443. (1805)
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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