Quercus fusiformis Small

Texas, Oklahoma ; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas); 0-1200 m ;

reaches 8 m, but also spreading shrub 1.5-3 m tall;

2-7 x 1-2 cm; evergreen; leathery; oblong, lanceolate or narrowly oval; apex acute or obtuse, with a short mucro; base cuneate or obtuse or truncate; margin entire or often with 3-4 pairs of teeth, weakly revolute; grey green, usually glabrous and bright above, with sometimes some stellate, sparse hairs; pale, blue green tomentose beneath, with stellate hairs and some glandular ones; 6-11 vein pairs, inconspicuous above, slightly raised beneath; epidermis bullate ; petiole tomentose 3-8 mm long;

spring; male inflorescence 3-5 cm long; female inflorescence 1,5-5,5 cm, with 2-3 flowers, sometimes more;

acorn long ovoid to spindle-shaped, 1,5-2 cm long, glabrous, striate, on 3-8 mm long peduncle, solitary or 2-3 together; cup with greyish hairs, turbinate or obconical, 1 cm in diameter, with scales thickenned near base, covering 1/3 to 1/4 of nut; cotyledons connate; maturing in 1 year, in October;

– A. Camus : n° 172; – Sub-genus Quercus, Section Virentes; – For some Authors, it is a variety of Q.virginiana , very closely related to. – In the southern part of its range, Q.fusiformis is likely to form hybrid-complex with Q.oleoides Schltdl.& Cham, named by C.H.Muller “ Q.oleoides var. quaterna “; – Moreover, Q.fusiformis is close also to Q.brandegei Goldmann, endemic to Baja California (Mexico).