''Quercus obtusata'' is an
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 ...
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 ''C ...
group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'')
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, with a distribution ranging from
San Luis Potosí and
Nayarit
Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...
south to
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 ...
, from 620 to 2800 MSL.
[Romero Rangel, S., E. C. Rojas Zenteno & M. L. Aguilar Enríquez. 2002. El género ''Quercus'' (Fagaceae) en el estado de México. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 89(4): 551–593]
in Spanish, with line drawings of each species
''Quercus obtusata'' is a tree up to tall with a trunk sometimes more than in diameter. The
leaves are thick and leathery, up to long, widely egg-shaped with 3–9 pairs of shallow rounded lobes or undulations.
[Bonpland, Aimé Jacques Alexandre. 1809. Plantae Aequinoctiales 2: plate 76]
drawing of ''Quercus obtusata''
Resembles ''
Q. potosina'', which has smaller leaves (3–10 x 2–6 cm); also resembles ''
Q. rugosa'', this one has a convex leaf strongly coriaceous, a revolute margin, the epidermis bullate; at least, one can differentiate ''Q. obtusata'' from ''
Q. laeta'', which has foliar underside glaucous, without masses of glandular secretions, none or rare glandular trichomes, a leaf more oblong than oboval with a margin sometimes entire.
References
External links
photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in México State in 1934
obtusata
Endemic oaks of Mexico
Plants described in 1809
Taxa named by Aimé Bonpland
{{Quercus-stub