Quercus trinitatis 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 trinitatis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-trinitatis/). Accessed 2026-08-16.

Family

Fagaceae

Genus

Quercus
Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

entire: With an unbroken margin.
midrib: midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.
revolute: Rolled downwards at margin.
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.
type specimen: A herbarium specimen cited in a taxonomic account to define a particular species or other taxon.

References

Valencia-A., S. et al. (2017). Distribution and diversity of Fagaceae in Hidalgo, Mexico.

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2026)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2026), 'Quercus trinitatis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-trinitatis/). Accessed 2026-08-16.

Foliage of Quercus trinitatis grown from Hidalgo seed at Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain, in November 2019, showing the undulate leaves. Image Francisco Garin.

Tree to 30 m tall, young shoots glabrous or soon glabrous. Leaves evergreen, leathery, lanceolate to elliptic, 7–18 × 2–6.5 cm, usually 2.5–3.5 times longer than broad, pointed and often curved to one side at the apex with a bristle-tipped tooth, rounded to tapered at the base, margin entire, undulate. They are rather glossy green and glabrous above with 9–12 or more veins on each side of the midrib, more or less glabrous beneath with tufts of hairs in the vein axils. Petiole 1–2.5 cm, glabrous, purple towards the base. Fruits borne singly or in pairs on a glabrous peduncle to 2 cm long. Cupules hemispherical, about 9 × 15 mm with closely appressed scales, nut ovoid, about 20 × 15 mm, ¼ to ⅓ included in the cup and ripening the second year. (Valencia-A. et al. 2017).

Distribution El Salvador Mexico Hidalgo, Puebla, Veracruz

Habitat Cloud forests, pine-oak forests and moist oak forests; 1500–2250 m.

USDA Hardiness Zone 8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Data deficient (DD)

This species can be confused with other entire-leaved red oaks with biennial fruits such as Quercus delgadoana, but that species has leaves with revolute margins and up to 20 veins on each side of the midrib, and lack the curved leaf tip often found in Q. trinitatis. It has been regarded as a synonym of Q. laurina, but that species usually has toothed leaves.

Quercus trinitatis was introduced in 2010 from 2150 m in Puebla to the UK by Allen Coombes and from 2000 m in Hidalgo in 2011 by Francisco Garin. It has not survived in the UK, but both collections are at Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain, where there are four plants, the largest about 6 m tall in 2021 (F. Garin pers. comm.). It was also introduced from a 2019 Béatrice Chassé collection in Chicamole, Hidalgo, and there are three vigorous young plants from this collection at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France where it reached about 1.6 m tall in December 2025 (B. Chassé, pers. comm.)

The epithet means ‘of Trinidad’, derived from the Latin trinitas (‘trinity’). The type specimen was collected by American botanist and prolific plant collector Cyrus Guernsey Pringle in 1904 from the ‘barranca below Trinidad Iron Works’ on the Hidalgo/Puebla border.

Quercus trinitatis leaves are untoothed and often have a distinctly curved apex. Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain, November 2019. Collected in Hidalgo. Image Francisco Garin.

Reddish young leaves on Quercus trinitatis expanding at Iturraran Botanic Garden in April 2019, from seed collected in Hidalgo. Image Francisco Garin.

Foliage on Quercus trinitatis in Tlahuelompa, Hidalgo, in October 2011. Image Francisco Garin.

A fruiting branch on a Quercus trinitatis in Tlahuelompa, Hidalgo, in October 2011, showing the biennial acorns. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus trinitatis: The introduction from Puebla at Iturraran Botanic Garden in October 2021. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus trinitatis: The Puebla introduction at Iturraran Botanic Garden, Spain in October 2021 showing the purple petioles. Image Francisco Garin.

Quercus trinitatis; The Puebla introduction at Iturraran Botanic Garden in October 2021. The image clearly shows the undulate leaves with a curved apex. Image Francisco Garin.

Foliage of a young Quercus trinitatis at Arboretum des Pouyoleix, France, in July 2023. Image Béatrice Chassé.

Quercus trinitatis: Leaf underside on a young plant at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France, in July 2023, showing tufts of hairs in the vein axils. Image Béatrice Chassé.

Foliage of Quercus trinitatis at Arboretum des Pouyouleix, France in December 2025. Image Béatrice Chassé.

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