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huckleberry oak

dwarf oak, intricate oak

Habit Shrubs, low spreading to often prostrate, to 1.5 m. Twigs branching at 45° angles or less, reddish brown, 1-1.5 mm diam., flexible, glabrous to sparsely pubesent. Shrubs, evergreen, clonal, intricately branched.
Bark

gray, scaly.

Twigs

gray- or yellow-tomentose, darkened, 1-1.5 mm diam., persistently pubescent for several seasons.

Buds

dark reddish brown, 1-1.5 mm, apex round, sparsely pubescent to glabrate.

Leaves

blade oblong-ovate, 10-35 × 7-15 mm, flat, thin, leathery, base slightly rounded to acute, secondary veins inconspicuous, 6-8 pairs, branching at 45-60° angles, with weakly thickened cell walls, margins entire or indistinctly and irregularly mucronately toothed, apex acute or rarely obtuse;

surfaces abaxially whitish green with waxy layer, glabrous or slightly pubescent with stellate hairs, adaxially dull gray-green, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with stellate hairs.

blade oblong, sometimes ovate, often strongly cupped, 10-25 × 5-13 mm, extremely thick, leathery, base cuneate to cordate, margins very coarsely revolute, often undulate-crisped, entire, rarely with a few teeth, secondary veins 8 or 9 on each side, apex acute or obtuse;

surfaces abaxially brownish or buff, persistently tomentose with erect curly hairs, rarely glabrate in 2d season, midribs (and sometimes principal veins) glabrous and brown against tomentum, secondary veins sometimes prominently raised, usually obscured by tomentum, adaxially dark or gray-green, lustrous, sparsely or moderately stellate-pubescent, secondary veins impressed.

Acorns

solitary or rarely paired;

cup shallowly saucer-shaped to slightly turbinate, 3-4 mm deep × 10-15 mm wide, scales appressed, slightly embedded, moderately silvery brown-pubescent;

nut ovoid, 8-17 × 5-10 mm, apex acute;

nut scar to 3 mm diam.

solitary or paired, subsessile or on peduncle to 15 mm;

cup deeply cup-shaped, 7-8 mm deep × ca. 10 mm wide, base round, margin thin, scales ovate or narrower, proximally canescent-tomentose, moderately or markedly tuberculate, tips closely appressed, reddish, thin, nearly glabrous;

nut light brown, ovoid, 9-12 × 8-10 mm.

Cotyledons

connate.

Terminal

buds conic, 2.5 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins.

Quercus vacciniifolia

Quercus intricata

Phenology Flowering in early summer. Flowering spring.
Habitat Dry ridges, steep slopes, and rocky areas from montane coniferous zone to near treeline Open chaparral and pinyon-oak woodland, on dry, rocky, limestone slopes (in Mexico also on gypsophilous soils)
Elevation 900-2800 m (3000-9200 ft) 1500-2500 m (4900-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, and Zacatecas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Typical high-elevation populations in the Sierra Nevada of California can be distinguished from all shrubby forms of Quercus chrysolepis by the absence of glandular trichomes and by thin cups with small nut-attachment scars. At lower elevations in northern California and southwestern Oregon, secondary contact with Q. chrysolepis has resulted in the formation of hybrids.

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

Quercus intricata, a fairly common element of the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert region, is known in the United States only from two localities: a population in the Chisos Mountains and another in the Eagle Mountains of west Texas.

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

Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Protobalanus 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. 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. 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. 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
Name authority Hittell: Resources Calif. 101. (1863) — (as vaccinifolia) Trelease: Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 20: 84. (1924)
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