oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
tree native to western Mexico, where it is found in a small portion of Jalisco and
Colima
Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima i ...
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
tree up to tall, with a trunk sometimes as much as in diameter. The leaves are thin, flat, narrowly lance-shaped, hairless on the upper surface but hairy on the underside, up to long.
Range and habitat
''Quercus iltisii'' is native to the Pacific slope of the coastal mountains of western Jalisco and northern Colima states, which are considered either the westernmost portion of the
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...
extent of occurrence
Extent may refer to:
Computing
* Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file
* Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region
* Extent, a chunk of st ...
(EOO) of 9,094 km2.
The species is found in a range of forest types between 330 and 1,500 meters elevation, including tropical semi-deciduous dry forests at lower elevations, and lower montane pine–oak forests and humid cloud forests (also known as montane mesophytic forests) at higher elevations. It is fairly common across its limited range. Associated tree species include ''
Quercus aristata
''Quercus aristata'' is a species of oak. It is native to western Mexico, found in Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, and Guerrero.
Description
''Quercus aristata'' is a short evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that re ...
Quercus elliptica
''Quercus elliptica'' is a Mesoamerican species of oak tree. It is widespread across central and southern Mexico and Central America from Sinaloa and Hidalgo south as far as Nicaragua.Quercus glaucescens,
Pinus oocarpa
''Pinus oocarpa'' is a species of pine tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is the national tree of Honduras, where it is known as ocote. Common names include ocote chino, pino amarillo, pino avellano, Mexican yellow pine, egg-cone pine ...
,
Pinus maximinoi
''Pinus maximinoi'', commonly known as thinleaf pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican St ...
,
Pinus jaliscana
''Pinus jaliscana'', the Jalisco pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is endemic to southwestern Mexico, native to the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre del Sur within western Jalisco state. It is threatened by habitat loss ...
Magnolia iltisiana
''Magnolia iltisiana'' is a species of plant in the family Magnoliaceae. It is Endemism, endemic to Mexico. Common names include ahuatoso and yoloxochitl.
Description
''Magnolia iltisiana'' is a large evergreen tree. It grows up to 40 meters hig ...
'', and ''
Carpinus tropicalis
''Carpinus tropicalis'' is a species of tree native to central and southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Description
''Carpinus tropicalis'' is small to medium-sized tree which grows up to 30 meters tall, with a tr ...
''. It is a common canopy tree the cloud forests above El Durazno from 950 to 1,200 meters elevation in the southern
Sierra de Manantlán
Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and " saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following:
Places Mountains and mountain ranges
* Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico
* Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain rang ...
.
Conservation
''Quercus iltisii'' is threatened with habitat loss from
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
. Much of its lower montane pine–oak and cloud forest habitats have been deforested for livestock pasture, agriculture including coffee and maize, timber harvesting including illegal logging, mining, road building, and urbanization. Its conservation status is assessed as
near-threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...
. A portion of its range is protected in
Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve
The Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve ( es, Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Manantlán) (established 1988) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the states of Colima and Jalisco, Mexico. The reserve is located in the transition of the Nearcti ...