Quercus acutifolia Née

Tree to 15 m, 0.5 m dbh. Branchlets reddish brown and glabrous, with numerous white lenticels. Leaves deciduous, (8–)11–17(–22) × (2–)3–6.5 cm, elliptic-ovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, leathery, immature leaves reddish with simple and stellate tomentum, mature leaves glabrous, but with some glandular or stellate tomentum along the midrib at the base of the leaf, 7–10 conspicuous secondary veins on each side of the midrib, margins revolute and entire or with one to five teeth near the apex, apex acuminate or acute; petiole 0.8–1.5 cm long, reddish and pubescent. Infructescence 1.5–2 cm long with one cupule. Cupule hemispheric, 1.5–2.2 × 0.6–0.8 cm, margin curved inwards; scales obtuse, covered in white pubescence. Acorn ovoid, with about ⅓ of its length enclosed in the cupule, 1.2–2 cm long, stylopodium persistent. It flowers from April to May; the mature fruits are found from July to August (Mexico). (Gonzalez & Labat 1987; Romero Rangel et al. 2002; Valencia-A. et al. 2015).

Distribution  Guatemala Honduras Mexico Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico State, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz

Habitat Pine-oak forest and tropical semideciduous forest, associated with other oaks such as Quercus castanea, Q. glaucoides, Q. magnoliifolia and Q. elliptica, or associated with Pinus oocarpa. This species develops at elevations between 750 and 2450 m asl, in temperate and semi-humid zones, on north- and east-facing slopes, and in red soils derived from limestones.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

Taxonomic note Prior to 2015, this species was distributed and grown as Quercus conspersa, while the plants distributed and grown as Q. acutifolia before that date can be assumed to be Q. grahamii. For the confusion between the names Q. acutifolia, Q. conspersa and Q. grahamii, see under Q. grahamii. In a paper on this group of species (Romero Rangel 2006) distinguished Q. acutifolia (as Q. conspersa) from Q. grahamii (as Q. acutifolia) by its always entire leaves, contrasting with the always toothed leaves of Q. grahamii. However, the type material of Q. conspersa in the Kew Herbarium, collected in Guatemala (Hartweg 617), consists of three sheets, two of which have leaves that are all entire, while one has all toothed leaves.