Quercus coffeicolor Trel.

Tree to 12 m tall and 30 cm dbh. Bark grey and scaly. Young shoots red to purple-brown, glabrous when mature. Leaves evergreen, rigid, elliptic to slightly obovate, to 12 × 5 cm or sometimes broader with 6–8 veins on each side. Margin entire, sometimes undulate, bluntly rounded or pointed at the apex, sometimes bristle-tipped, truncate to rounded or heart-shaped and sometimes oblique at the base. They are glossy green and glabrous above, paler and glossy beneath, glabrous except for tufts of hairs in the vein axils. Petiole glabrous, to 2.5 cm long. Fruits biennial, borne singly or up to 3 together on a stout peduncle to 1 cm long. Cupule saucer-shaped, to 15 mm across and 6 mm deep with appressed, hairy scales, acorn ovoid, to 12 mm long and 10 mm wide, ⅓ or less enclosed in the cup. (Trelease 1924; McVaugh 1974).

Distribution  Mexico Chihuahua, Durango, Jaliasco, Nayarit, Sonora

Habitat Dry hillsides and mountain summits in pine-oak forest at 1500–2500 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 9

RHS Hardiness Rating H3

Conservation status Data deficient (DD)

Taxonomic note This species has also been called Quercus prainiana, often misspelt ‘praineana’. However the name Q. prainiana Trel. is predated by Q. prainiana H. Lév., a synonym of Q. helferiana.