Quercus meavei Valencia-A., Sabás & O.J.Soto

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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 meavei' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-meavei/). Accessed 2026-10-15.

Family

Fagaceae

Genus

Quercus
Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

glabrous: Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

References

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus meavei' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-meavei/). Accessed 2026-10-15.

Silky-hairy, red-flushed leaves on Quercus meavei as they expand in April 2012 at Iturraran Botancial Garden, Spain. Image Francisco Garin.

Tree 20–30 m tall, young shoots yellow-brown tomentose, sometimes soon glabrous. Leaves evergreen, leathery or semi-leathery, lanceolate to oblanceolate, to 18 × 7.5 cm, pointed at the apex, broadly tapered at the base, with 14–17 or sometimes more parallel veins on each side ending in bristle-tipped teeth. They are dark green above and glabrous or nearly so when mature, usually with tufts of brownish hairs in the vein axils, becoming more or less glabrous. Petiole up to 3.6 cm, usually tomentose at least towards the base. Fruits solitary or paired, on short peduncles to 13 mm long, cupule hemispherical, to 16.5 × 23 mm, covered with silky-hairy, appressed scales, acorns ovoid, to 16.5 × 16 mm, ⅓ to ½ enclosed in the cup and ripening the second year. (Valencia-A, Sabas Rosales & Soto Arellano 2016; Valencia-A. 2017).

Distribution Mexico Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz

Habitat Temperate rainforests and oak forests, in areas of high humidity with Liquidambar styraciflua, Clethra, Carpinus, Fagus and other oaks at 1630–2250 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

Quercus meavei was introduced to the Iturraran Botanic Garden in 2008 as seed collected by Francisco Garin in Puebla, Mexico. Three plants were seen there in 2019, growth is rapid and the largest was almost 10 m tall in 2021 (F. Garin, pers. comm.). These plants have relatively widely spaced and fewer veins (10–13) compared to the original description and the young shoots were glabrous when seen in July, but they are similar to some specimens cited in the original publication from part of Hidalgo, close to where the seed was collected. It was later introduced to Arboretum Pouyouleix, France, where there are small plants, by Béatrice Chassé from Hidalgo in 2019.

It is named after Dr. Jorge Arturo Meave del Castillo, who studied the vegetation of the cloud forest and tropical regions in Mexico.

Leaves on a Quercus meavei at Iturraran Botanical Garden in July 2019, show their prominent, bristle-tipped teeth. Image Maricela Rodriguez.

The young leaves of Quercus meavei emerge bronze in July 2019 on this vigorous tree at the Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain. Image Maricela Rodriguez Acosta.

A young Quercus meavei at Thenford, Northamptonshire, UK in September 2022. Image Maricela Rodriguez.

A young Quercus meavei at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in July 2023. Image Béatrice Chassé.

A young Quercus meavei at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in August 2021. Image Béatrice Chassé.

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