Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus john-tuckeri

Quercus falcata

desert scrub oak, Tucker oak, Tucker's oak

chêne rouge, southern red oak, Spanish oak
Habit Shrubs, subevergreen or evergreen, 1-3(-5) m. Bark light gray or brown, scaly. Trees, deciduous, to 30 m. Bark dark brown to black, narrowly fissured with scaly ridges, inner bark orange.
Twigs

yellowish or dingy gray, 1-1.5(-2) mm diam., densely tomentulose.

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

brown, ovoid or globose, 1.5-2(-3) mm, glabrous except for ciliate margins of scales;

proximal scales often yellowish puberulent.

Leaves

blade unicolored, elliptic or obovate, (10-)15-30(-40) × (8-)10-15(-20) mm, thick and leathery, often brittle, base truncate or rounded-attenuate, rarely subcordate, margins irregularly spinose-toothed, occasionally shallowly lobate, secondary veins (3-)4-7, often some veins branching near margin and passing into more than 1 tooth, apex acute or rounded;

surfaces abaxially waxy grayish, light green, or yellowish, sparse to moderately dense (8-)10-12-rayed, (loosely) appressed-stellate hairs, often 0.2-0.5 mm diam., and sparse to crowded, yellowish, glandular hairs, adaxially dull grayish, with stellate hairs, similar to abaxial surface.

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.
Acorns

solitary or paired, subsessile;

cup cup-shaped or obconic to hemispheric, 5-7 mm deep × 10-15 mm wide, thin, scales whitish or yellowish, moderately or scarcely tuberculate, puberulent;

nut fusiform, ovoid, or conic, 20-30 mm, apex acute.

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.
Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

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

Quercus john-tuckeri

Quercus falcata
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Dry slopes, chaparral, pinyon and juniper woodlands, margins of oak woodlands and sagebrush Dry or sandy upland sites
Elevation 900-2000 m (3000-6600 ft) 0-800 m (0-2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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]
Discussion

Dry slopes, chaparral, pinyon and juniper woodlands, margins of oak woodlands and sagebrush; 900-2000 m; Calif.

Endemic to California, Quercus john-tuckeri occurs from Los Angeles County northward in the interior Coast Ranges and Sierra Foothills to the northern edge of Sacramento Valley.

Quercus john-tuckeri bears some resemblance to both Q. turbinella and Q. berberidifolia. Quercus turbinella has pedunculate fruit and cordate leaf bases, however, and Q. berberidifolia has a glabrate adaxial leaf surface, substantially smaller stellate trichomes with fewer rays on the abaxial leaf surface, heavier tuberculate acorn cups, and blunt or rounded (instead of acute) acorns.

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

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.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus 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. 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. 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. 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. californica Q. digitata, Q. falcata var. triloba
Name authority Nixon & C. H. Muller: Novon 4: 391. (1994) Michaux: Hist. Chênes Amér., no. 16, plate 28. (1801)
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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