Quercus oocarpa

Quercus oocarpa is a Mesoamerican species of oak.

Quercus oocarpa
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Fagaceae
Genus:	Quercus
Subgenus:	Quercus subg. Quercus
Section:	Quercus sect. Quercus
Species:	Q. oocarpa
Binomial name
Quercus oocarpa Liebm.
Synonyms[2]
List Quercus oöcarpa Liebm. Quercus glabrescens Seemen Quercus insignis subsp. oocarpa (Liebm.) A.E.Murray Quercus insignis var. oocarpa (Liebm.) A.E.Murray Quercus warszewiczii Liebm. Quercus yunckeri Trel.

It is native to Central America and southern Mexico, with an isolated population in the canyons of Jalisco in western Mexico.^[3][4]

Description

Quercus oocarpa is a large forest tree frequently more than 25 metres (82 feet) tall, evergreen or deciduous, with a trunk as much as 100 centimetres (39 inches) in diameter. The leaves are sometimes as much as 45 cm (18 in) long, broadly egg-shaped with numerous small pointed teeth along the edges.^[3]

Range and habitat

Quercus oocarpa ranges from southwestern Mexico (Nayarit, Jalisco, and Guerrero states, and possibly Chiapas), through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica to Panama. Some specimens of Quercus insignis M.Martens & Galeotti from Chiapas have been confused with this species.^[1]

It inhabits humid montane forests, including cloud forests and pine–oak–Liquidambar forests, between 1400 and 2000 meters elevation.^[1]