''Quercus laceyi'', the Lacey oak, is a small to medium-size

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

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 which is native to northeastern Mexico (

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

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 ...

) and to the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

in central

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the United States.

Description

''Quercus laceyi'' seldom grows more than tall, and has a stocky trunk. Its blue-green

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 oblong and shallowly lobed to unlobed, but shade leaves can be deeply lobed; they most often turn yellow or brown in autumn. ''Quercus laceyi'' has often been confused with ''

Quercus glaucoides ''Quercus glaucoides'' is an oak species in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' section ''Quercus'', found in and endemic to eastern, central and southern Mexico (Guanajuato, Guerrero, México State, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebl ...

'', which is an evergreen oak native to central and southern Mexico.

Habitat

''Quercus laceyi'' is often found in association with limestone outcrops.

References

External links

Texas Superstar®, by Texas A&M University, "Lacey Oak Is A Real Texas Lady"

photo of herbarium specimen collected in Nuevo León in 1996
laceyi Trees of Northeastern Mexico Trees of the South-Central United States Flora of Texas Taxa named by John Kunkel Small Oaks of Mexico {{Quercus-stub