''Quercus laeta'' is an oak

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

section, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'', in the

beech family The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergr ...

. It is widespread across much of Mexico from

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

and

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

south as far as

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

Description

''Quercus laeta'' is a tree up to tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are dark green, thick and leathery, up to 40 cm long with a few shallow teeth along the edges.

References

External links

photo of herbarium specimen collected in Nuevo León in 1992
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15337978

laeta Laeta was the second Empress consort of Gratian of the Western Roman Empire. Family The only relation of Laeta mentioned by Zosimus was her mother Pissamena. Zosimus, "''Historia Nova'', Book five, 1814 translation by Green and Chaplin Empres ...

Endemic oaks of Mexico Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental Flora of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca Flora of the Sierra Madre del Sur Flora of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Flora of Los Tuxtlas Plants described in 1854