Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus cornelius-mulleri

Quercus lyrata

desert scrub oak, muller oak, muller's oak

overcup oak
Habit Shrubs, evergreen or subevergreen, densely branched, 1-2(-3) m. Bark gray, scaly. Trees, deciduous, to 20 m. Bark light gray, tinged with red, with thick plates underlying scales.
Twigs

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

grayish or reddish, (2-)3(-4) mm diam., villous, soon glabrate.
Buds

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

3 mm, gray-puberulent.
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 obovate or broadly obovate, 100-160(-200) × 50-100(-120) mm, base narrowly cuneate to acute, margins moderately to deeply lobed, lobes somewhat to sharply angular or spatulate, often with 2-3 teeth, sinuses nearly to midrib, secondary veins arched, divergent, (3-)5-7 on each side, apex broadly rounded or ovate;

surfaces abaxially light green or somewhat glaucous, tomentose, tomentum persisting or soon falling, adaxially dark green or dull gray, sparsely puberulent to glabrate.
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.

1-2 on axillary peduncles to 40 mm;

cup goblet-shaped, burlike, or spheroid, 15-20 mm deep × 20-30 mm wide, usually completely enclosing nut or merely apex visible, rarely enclosing only 1/2 nut, orifice smaller than nut diameter, often splitting irregularly at maturity, scales closely appressed, especially about margin, laterally connate, broadly triangular, keeled-tuberculate, finely grayish tomentose;

nut light brown or grayish, ovoid-ellipsoid or oblong, (15-)25-50 × (10-)20-40 mm, finely puberulent or floccose.
Cotyledons

distinct.

distinct.

Quercus cornelius-mulleri

Quercus lyrata
Phenology Flowering early spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Open chaparral, pinyon and juniper woodlands, desert margins, often on loose granitic soils Bottoms, lowlands, wet forest, streamside forests, swamp forests, periodically inundated areas
Elevation 1000-1800 m (3300-5900 ft) 0-200 m (0-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; 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.)

The large acorns with hardened cups that enclose all or most of the nut are diagnostic.

(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. 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. 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. 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. bicolor var. lyrata
Name authority Nixon & K. P. Steele: Madroño 28: 210. (1981) Walter: Fl. Carol., 235. (1788)
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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