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Hill's oak, Jack oak, northern pin oak

netleaf oak

Habit Trees, deciduous, to 20 m; lower trunk often with stubs of dead branches. Shrubs or trees, evergreen, usually moderate-sized, rarely large.
Bark

dark gray-brown, shallowly fissured, inner bark orangish.

light or dark brown, scaly.

Twigs

dark reddish brown, (1-)1.5-3 mm diam., glabrous.

brown, turning gray with age, 1-2 mm diam., tomentose to tomentulose, variously glabrate or persistently pubescent.

Buds

brown, ovoid, 2-4 mm, apex obtuse, sparsely pubescent or eventually glabrate.

Leaves

blade elliptic, 70-130 × 50-100 mm, base obtuse to truncate, margins with 5-7 deep lobes and 15-55 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 broadly obovate or panduriform to orbiculate or elliptic, rarely narrowly obovate, usually cupped, strongly concave proximally, sometimes planar, to 100 × 70 mm, stiff, leathery, base deeply or shallowly cordate, margins usually somewhat revolute, cartilaginously thickened, undulately crisped or flat with inconspicuous or coarse mucronate teeth near apex, secondary veins 8-10(-12) on each side, branched, apex broadly rounded, rarely subacute;

surfaces abaxially dull, glaucous, or densely brownish tomentose, becoming nearly glabrate or pubescence persistent, especially about midribs, secondary veins very prominently raised, reticulate, adaxially dark green, lustrous, sparsely stellate-pubescent especially about base of midrib, secondary veins impressed.

Acorns

biennial;

cup narrowly turbinate to deeply cup-shaped, 6-11 mm high × 10-19 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface reddish brown, puberulent, inner surface light brown, glabrous, rarely with ring of pubescence around scar, scales with straight or slightly concave margins, tips tightly appressed, obtuse or acute;

nut ellipsoid to ovoid, rarely subglobose, 10-20 × 9-15 mm, occasionally striate, glabrous, occasionally with 1 or more faint rings of fine pits at apex, scar diam. 4-8 mm.

1-3 or more on slender axillary peduncle 30-60 mm;

cup deeply cup-shaped to saucer-shaped, to 9 mm deep × 15 mm wide, enclosing to 1/2 nut, scales loosely appressed, characteristically somewhat spreading, brown, ovate, tuberculate-thickened or only slightly so, tomentose or obscurely tomentulose;

nut light brown, ovoid to elliptic, to 20 × 15 mm, glabrous or minutely villous.

Cotyledons

distinct, often reddish or purple.

Terminal

buds dark reddish brown, ovoid, 3-5 mm, often conspicuously 5-angled in cross section, usually silvery- or tawny-pubescent toward apex.

Quercus ellipsoidalis

Quercus rugosa

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering early–late spring.
Habitat Dry sandy sites, rarely on moderately mesic slopes or uplands Wooded slopes
Elevation 150-500 m (500-1600 ft) 2000-2500 m (6600-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; IN; MI; MN; OH; WI; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

In many treatments (e.g., E. G. Voss 1972+, vol. 2), Quercus ellipsoidalis is included in Q. coccinea. Variation in fruit morphology has led to recognition of several formae (W. Trelease 1919; see also R. J. Jensen 1986) and one variety (Q. ellipsoidalis var. kaposianensis, based on specimens from St. Paul, Minnesota, in which the cup tightly encloses the nut for two-thirds its length at maturity).

Quercus ellipsoidalis reportedly hybridizes with Q. rubra and Q. velutina.

The Menominee used Quercus ellipsoidalis medicinally to treat suppressed menses caused by cold (D. E. Moerman 1986).

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

Quercus rugosa occurs on wooded slopes at high elevations in trans-Pecos Texas, southern New Mexico, and Arizona, and throughout most of the mesic montane parts of Mexico, south to Guatemala.

(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. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, 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. 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. 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. ellipsoidalis var. kaposianensis Q. ariifolia, Q. diversicolor, Q. durangensis, Q. reticulata, Q. rhodophlebia, Q. vellifera
Name authority E. J. Hill: Bot. Gaz. 27: 204, plates 2, 3. (1899) Nee.: Anales Ci. Nat. 3: 275. (1801)
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