''Quercus acutifolia'' is a species of
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. It is native to central and southern
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 ...
and northern Central America, from
Nayarit south as far as Belize and Guatemala.
[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 speciesMcVaugh, R. 1974. Flora Novo-Galiciana: Fagaceae. Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium 12(1,3): 1–93
/ref>
It is a 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 ...
tree growing up to tall with a trunk as much as 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 stiff and leathery, rigid, narrowly elliptical, up to 16 cm long, dark green on the top and lighter green underneath, with 8–14 bristly teeth on each side.[ It retains its leaves until winter and can withstand about -10 °C.
]
References
acutifolia
Flora of Central America
Oaks of Mexico
Trees of Guerrero
Trees of Oaxaca
Trees of Puebla
Plants described in 1801
{{Quercus-stub