Quercus ocoteifolia Liebm.

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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 ocoteifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-ocoteifolia/). Accessed 2026-06-15.

Family

Fagaceae

Genus

Quercus
Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Synonyms

Quercus acatenangensis Trel.
Quercus acutifolia var. longifolia A.DC.
Quercus longifolia Liebm. nom. illeg.
Quercus xalapensis var. longifolia (A.DC.) Wenz.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

synonym: (syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

References

Muller, C.H. (1942). The Central American Species of Quercus 477 Miscellaneous Publications

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus ocoteifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-ocoteifolia/). Accessed 2026-06-15.

Quercus ocoteifolia leaves are usually entire without a bristle tip. Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain, July 2021. Image Francisco Garin.

Large tree to 30 m tall, trunk to 1 m diameter. Bark pale grey, scaly, young shoots glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Leaves evergreen, leathery, lanceolate to elliptic, to 10 or 15 cm long, usually 2–3 cm broad, sometimes more, pointed at the apex usually without a conspicuous bristle tip, veins 10–14 each side, not reaching the margin, narrowed to the base, entire except on vigorous shoots or stump sprouts when they can have bristle-tipped teeth. They are bronze when young becoming glossy green above and glabrous or almost so on both sides or sometimes with small tufts of hairs in the vein axils. Petiole to 1 or 2 cm long. Fruits solitary or paired on a peduncle to 2 cm long, cup to 12 × 20 mm, top-shaped with silky-hairy adpressed scales, acorns elliptic to ovoid, to 17 × 14 mm, ⅓ to ½ included in the cup and ripening the second year. (Muller 1942).

Distribution Guatemala Mexico Chiapas, Oaxaca

Habitat Mountain plains and hillsides in oak or pine/oak forest at 1500–3300 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Introduced to Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain, in 1996 from seed collected in Guatemala (as Quercus acatenangensis, now considered a synonym). There are three plants in the collection. Although it has proved hardy there, it has grown slowly since planting in 1997 and has only reached about 3 m tall (F. Garin, pers. comm. 2021).

The specific epithet refers to the resemblance of the leaves to those of a species of Ocotea (Lauraceae), although Liebmann did not specify which one.

Quercus ocoteifolia leaves are more or less glabrous with distinct veins beneath that do not reach the margin. Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain, July 2021. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus ocoteifolia: Toothed leaves are only seen on vigorous shoots or stump sprouts, Iturraran Botanical Garden, Spain, July 2021. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus ocoteifolia at Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain, originally received as Q. crispifolia and later identified as Q. acatenangensis, a synonym of Q. ocoteifolia; 24 May 2011. Image © Jan De Langhe - Ghent UBG.

Quercus ocoteifolia leaves are usually glabrous on both sides, as seen on these leaves from a tree at Iturraran Botanic Garden, 26 April 2012. Image © Jan De Langhe - Ghent UBG.

Petioles on Quercus ocoteifolia are usually less than 1 cm long; leaves from a tree at Iturraran Botanic Garden, 15 February 2011. Image © Jan De Langhe - Ghent UBG.

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