Quercus scytophylla Liebm.

Tree to 20 m tall and 50 cm dbh, young shoots finely pubescent. Leaves evergreen, very rigid and leathery, obovate to oblanceolate, to about 15 × 7 cm, apex with a pointed, bristle-tipped tooth, base rounded to broadly tapered, sometimes oblique, margin often slightly revolute, with up to 7 triangular, bristle-tipped teeth on each side mostly towards the apex of the leaf. They are matt dark grey-green above or only slightly glossy and more or less glabrous when mature, except for some hairs towards the base of the midrib, with up to 9 impressed veins on either side that end in teeth. The lower surface is prominently veined and densely pubescent with a thin, whitish tomentum that yellows then blackens with age. Petiole 1–4 cm long. Fruits single or in clusters of up to 4 on a peduncle to 1 cm long, cupules hemispherical to top-shaped, 4–8 mm × 10–13 mm, acorns ovoid, to 10 × 7 mm, about ½ included in the cup and ripening the first year. (Valencia Ávalos 1995; Romero Rangel et al. 2002).

Distribution  Mexico Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico State, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora

Habitat Oak and pine-oak forest, 900–2600 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Least concern (LC)