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Havard oak, Havard's oak, Havard's shinnery oak, sand shinnery oak, sand shinoak, shinnery oak

Ajo Mountain scrub oak

Habit Shrubs, deciduous, low, forming clones 0.3-1.5 × 10 m, rhizomatous. Shrubs, rarely trees, evergreen, to 2-3 m. Bark gray, scaly or furrowed.
Bark

light gray, scaly-papery.

Twigs

brown or grayish, 1-2.5 mm diam., glabrous or densely short grayish or yellowish tomentulose, glabrate in age.

light brown, 1-2 mm diam., inconspicuously short stellate-pubescent or glabrate.

Buds

dark red-brown, subglobose, ca. 2 mm, sparsely pubescent.

brown or reddish brown, ovoid or globose, 1-1.5 mm, variously short stellate-pubescent, tomentose, or glabrate.

Leaves

blade green, often turning brownish with age, polymorphic, oblong or elliptic or sometimes lanceolate to oblanceolate or ovate to obovate, (30-)50-100 × (10-)20-50 mm, rather thick and hard, base rounded to cuneate, margins flat to revolute, at least some undulate, 2-3 rounded teeth on each side, secondary veins 5-8 on each side, much branched, apex broadly rounded, rarely acute;

surfaces abaxially densely grayish or yellowish tomentulose or stellate-pubescent, sometimes only sparsely pubescent, secondary veins quite prominent, adaxially lustrous, very sparsely stellate-pubescent or glabrate, secondary veins very slightly if at all raised.

petiole (2-)3-4 m. Leaf blade ovate to narrowly ovate or oblong, (10-)15-35(-50) × (5-)10-20(-30) mm, rather leathery, base cordate, rarely rounded, margins crispate, sometimes flat, cartilaginous, with 4-6(-8) long-attenuate, spinose-awned teeth on each side, secondary veins 5-8 on each side, whitish, apex acute or obtuse with bristly distal teeth;

surfaces abaxially blue-green, waxy-glaucous, microscopically papillose, glabrous, sometimes sparsely stellate-pubescent along midrib, adaxially blue-green, glaucous, glabrous or sparingly stellate-pubescent along midrib, secondary veins raised on both surfaces.

Acorns

solitary or paired, subsessile or on peduncle to 10(-18) mm;

cup from deeply cup-shaped to goblet-shaped, 10-12 mm deep × 15-25 mm wide, enclosing 1/3-1/2 nut, base rounded or slightly constricted, margin very thin and smooth, scales reddish brown, triangular-ovate to long-acute, proximally moderately to markedly tuberculate, pubescent, often canescent, tips loosely appressed;

nut brown, ovoid, 12-25 × 14-18 mm.

solitary or paired on thin axillary peduncle (5-)30-50 mm;

cup shallowly cup-shaped, thin, 3-4 mm deep × 6-8(-10) mm wide, enclosing only base of nut, scales brownish, moderately tuberculate, pubescent;

nut oblong to narrowly ovoid, 12-15 × 5-8 mm.

Cotyledons

distinct.

distinct.

Quercus havardii

Quercus ajoensis

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering in spring.
Habitat Deep, shifting or stabilized sand dunes, off deep sands in putative hybrid populations Rare to locally abundant on igneous slopes
Elevation 500-1500 m (1600-4900 ft) 500-1500 m (1600-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Baja California)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Individual clones emerging to heights of 2-3 m from thickets occur sporadically across the Texas range of Quercus havardii and express some characteristics of Q. stellata, such as more deeply lobed leaves and smaller acorns. Such putative hybrids increase in frequency in the eastern part of the range of the species.

Material of Quercus havardii from the Navajo Basin of Utah and adjacent Arizona has been treated as Q. havardii var. tuckeri Welsh. Welsh followed J. M. Tucker (1970) and interpreted these intermediate populations as putative hybrids between Q. havardii and both Q. turbinella and Q. gambelii. Giving varietal rank, instead of nothospecies status, to such populations seems arbitrary, and it certainly is inconsistent with their putative hybrid origins.

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

Populations of Quercus ajoensis in southern New Mexico show characteristics suggesting introgression from hybridization with Quercus toumeyi, such as increased twig and leaf pubescence and sometimes the prominent golden puberulum of the abaxial leaf surfaces. Hybrids between Q. ajoensis and both Q. turbinella and Q. gambelii (Utah) are also known.

(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. 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. 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. 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. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Synonyms Q. turbinella subsp. ajoensis, Q. turbinella var. ajoensis
Name authority Rydberg: Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 2: 213. (1901) C. H. Muller: Madroño 12: 140. (1954)
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