Quercus hypoxantha Trel.

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
The Trees and Shrubs Online Oak Consortium

The International Dendrology Society, The Wynkcoombe Arboretum, and several private individuals

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus hypoxantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-hypoxantha/). Accessed 2026-06-17.

Family

Fagaceae

Genus

Quercus
Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

References

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus hypoxantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-hypoxantha/). Accessed 2026-06-17.

Quercus hypoxantha grows vigorously at Arboretum de la Bergerette, France, September 2021. Image Shaun Haddock.

Shrub to 2 m tall, sometimes tree-like and suckering from the base with smooth, dark grey bark and the young shoots densely and persistently covered in brownish hairs. Leaves evergreen, narrowly obovate, to 5.5 × 3.5 cm, apex rounded to pointed, ending in a tooth, base distinctly heart shaped, margins flat or revolute at the sinuses with up to 4 or sometimes 6 spiny teeth on each side, particularly towards the tip, the teeth deeper on vigorous shoots. They are sparsely hairy above, becoming glossy dark green and more or less glabrous, with about 5 impressed veins on each side of the midrib, lower surface at first with a dense yellow-brown tomentum that falls away with age. Petiole glabrous and reddish, to 6 mm long. Fruits borne singly on stalks to 6 mm long, cupules hemispherical to funnel-shaped, to 8 × 14 mm, the closely appressed scales with rusty-hairy margins, acorns ovoid, 14 × 10 mm, ripening the second year. (Nixon & Muller 1993)..

Distribution Mexico Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas

Habitat Chaparral and margins of pine-oak forest with other oaks such as Q. greggii, Arctostaphylos and Garrya, 1900–2850 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 7

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

This undoubtedly very hardy species was first introduced by Sir Harold Hillier from Mexico in 1979. A plant grew for several years at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire, UK and reached 4.5 m tall but died after being blown over in a storm.

It is in cultivation from seed collected by Béatrice Chassé on Sierra Hermosa, Coahuila, Mexico, in 2010. A plant from this collection at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, planted in 2012, was 6 m × 6 cm in 2021 and first fruited in 2020 (B. Chassé, pers. comm.) This collection also grows at Penrice Castle, Wales, where it was 1.5 m in 2021 (T. Methuen-Campbell, pers. comm.) and at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall (Williams 2020). At Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain, another Chassé collection was 2.5 m in 2021 (F. Garin, pers. comm.)

The specific epithet derives from the ancient Greek for ‘yellow beneath’, from ὑπο- (hupo-, ‘under’) + ξανθός (xanthós, ‘yellow’), referring to the leaves (Wiktionary 2025).

Ripe acorns on Quercus hypoxantha at Arboretum de la Bergerette, France, September 2021. Image Shaun Haddock.

Quercus hypoxantha: A vigorous shoot showing the sharply toothed and tomentose young leaves. Arboretum de la Bergerette, France, September 2021. Image Shaun Haddock.

The leathery leaves on Quercus hypoxantha show a sparse covering of stellate hairs in August 2021 at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France. This plant was grown from seed collected on Sierra Hermosa, Coahuila in 2010. Image Béatrice Chassé.

The dark green leaves of Quercus hypoxantha have impressed veins and conspicuous, spine-tipped teeth. Iturraran Botanic Garden, July 2018. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus hypoxantha leaves are densely tomentose beneath. Iturraran Botanic Garden, July 2018. Image Francisco Garin.

A ripe acorn on Quercus hypoxantha at Iturraran Botanic Garden, July 2018. Image Francisco Garin.

Male catkins on Quercus hypoxantha in May 2021 at Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain. Image Francisco Garin.

A vigorous Quercus hypoxantha in flower at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in May 2023. It was grown from seed collected on Sierra Hermosa, Coahuila, Mexico in 2010. Image Béatrice Chassé.

Quercus hypoxantha: Foliage showing the upper leaf surface at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in November 2021. Image Béatrice Chassé.

Quercus hypoxantha: Lower leaf surface at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in November 2021, showing the characteristic tomentum. Image Béatrice Chassé.

Male catkins on Quercus hypoxantha expanding at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in May 2023. Image Béatrice Chassé.

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