Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus falcata

Quercus tomentella

chêne rouge, southern red oak, Spanish oak

Channel Island oak, island live oak, island oak
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark dark brown to black, narrowly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orange. Trees, to 20 m. Twigs branching at 45° angles, reddish brown, 3-4 mm diam., somewhat rigid, densely tomentose, persistent into 2d year.
Twigs

reddish brown, (1-)1.5-3.5(-4.5) mm diam., pubescent.

Leaves

blade ovate to elliptic or obovate, 100-300 × 60-160 mm, base rounded or U-shaped, margins with 3-7 deep lobes and 6-20 awns, terminal lobe often long-acuminate, much longer than lateral lobes, apex acute;

surfaces abaxially sparsely to uniformly tawny-pubescent, adaxially glossy and glabrous or puberulent along midrib, secondary veins raised on both surfaces.

blade wavy or distinctly concave, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, acuminate, (30-)70-10(-120) × 25-40 mm, leathery and brittle, base obtuse to cordate, secondary veins 8-10(-12) pairs, branching at 45-50° angles, strongly pinnate, raised abaxially, often sunken adaxially, margins often strongly revolute, with slightly thickened cell walls, entire or crenate to dentate with mucronate teeth, apex rounded or acute, mucronate;

surfaces abaxially densely tomentose with whitish nonglandular hairs, midrib pilose, adaxially glossy dark green, sparsely pubescent.
Acorns

biennial;

cup saucer-shaped to cup-shaped, 3-7 mm high × 9-18 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2 nut, outer surface puberulent, inner surface pubescent, scale tips tightly appressed, acute;

nut subglobose, 9-16 × 8-15 mm, often striate, puberulent, scar diam. 5-10 mm.

solitary or rarely paired;

cup shallowly cup-shaped, 4-8 mm deep × 15-30 mm wide, scales laterally connate, appressed, deeply imbedded in tomentum, with only thin, brown, elongated apices visible, tuberculate, densely whitish brown tomentose throughout;

nut ovoid, 20-30 × 15-20 mm, apex rounded.
Terminal

buds light reddish brown, ovoid, 4-8 mm, puberulent throughout.

buds conic, 7-10 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins.

Quercus falcata

Quercus tomentella
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering in spring, occasionally in fall.
Habitat Dry or sandy upland sites Lower portions of steep canyons and occasionally ridge tops
Elevation 0-800 m (0-2600 ft) 100-650 m (300-2100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California and on Guadalupe Island)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Native Americans used Quercus falcata in various ways to treat indigestion, chronic dysentery, sores, chapped skin, chills and fevers, lost voice, asthma, milky urine, and as an antiseptic, a tonic, and an emetic (D. E. Moerman 1986).

Quercus falcata reportedly hybridizes with Q. ilicifolia (= Q. ×caesariensis Moldenke), Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia (= Q. ×beaumontiana Sargent), and Q. marilandica (E. J. Palmer 1948); with Q. nigra, and Q. pagoda (S. A. Ware 1967; R. J. Jensen 1989); and with Q. phellos, Q. shumardii, Q. hemisphaerica, and Q. velutina.

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

The insular endemic Quercus tomentella is a relict as evidenced by its widespread representation in mainland late Tertiary fossil floras. Hybridization with Q. chrysolepis is apparent on the Channel Islands: Santa Catalina, Santa Cruz, and possibly San Clemente and Anacapa. Putative hybrids have been observed in narrow zones of contact on the islands of Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina. On those islands, taxonomically distinct individuals of Q. chrysolepis occur at the highest elevations, whereas Q. tomentella generally is found in moist canyons at lower elevations. Populations of Channel Island oak are in decline because of overgrazing and poor seedling recruitment. The greatest number of populations occur on Santa Rosa Island, and those are taxonomically and genetically noteworthy because Q. chrysolepis apparently is absent from the island.

(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. Protobalanus
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. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, 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. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Synonyms Q. digitata, Q. falcata var. triloba
Name authority Michaux: Hist. Chênes Amér., no. 16, plate 28. (1801) Engelmann: Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, 3: 393. (1877)
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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