Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus ellipsoidalis

Quercus viminea

Hill's oak, Jack oak, northern pin oak

Mexican willow oak, Sonoran oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 20 m; lower trunk often with stubs of dead branches. Trees, evergreen or drought-deciduous, to 10 m. Twigs brown to dark reddish brown, 2-3 mm diam., sparsely to uniformly pubescent.
Bark

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

Twigs

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

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 narrowly lanceolate, widest at or proximal to middle, 35-60[-150] × 7-10 mm, base usually rounded or obtuse, often oblique, occasionally somewhat cordate, margins entire with 1 apical awn, apex acute to acuminate;

surfaces abaxially glabrous or with prominent tufts of tomentum near base of blade, adaxially glabrous or with pubescence along midrib and scattered on blade.
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.

(not known within our range) biennial;

cup cup-shaped, 5-8 mm high × 8-10 mm wide, covering ca. 1/3 nut, inner surface pubescent, scales with appressed, obtuse tips;

nut ovoid, 9-15 × 7-10 mm.
Terminal

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

buds brown to reddish brown, acutely ovoid, 1.5-2.5 mm, glabrous.

Quercus ellipsoidalis

Quercus viminea
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering spring or summer.
Habitat Dry sandy sites, rarely on moderately mesic slopes or uplands Habitat not specified
Elevation 150-500 m (500-1600 ft) 1500 m (4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; IN; MI; MN; OH; WI; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora, and southward)
[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.)

As with many of the Madrean counterparts of the oak flora, in very dry years trees progressively lose their leaves through the long dry spring and may become virtually leafless by the time the rains come in early summer (R. W. Spellenberg, pers. comm.).

In the flora, Quercus viminea is known from a single sterile specimen collected at Red Mountain, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. Recent attempts to find the taxon at this site have been fruitless. The Arizona specimen is similar to specimens from northern Mexico that have small, usually entire, narrowly lanceolate leaves with short petioles. These northern forms appear to grade clinally into larger-leaved southern forms that fit the general description of Q. bolanyosensis Trelease.

(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. 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. 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. 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. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Synonyms Q. ellipsoidalis var. kaposianensis
Name authority E. J. Hill: Bot. Gaz. 27: 204, plates 2, 3. (1899) Trelease: Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 20: 123, plate 222. (1924)
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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