International Oaks

by Michael Martin Melendrez Los Lunas, New Mexico

resented below are 23 species of white oak, six of black • oak, and two intermediate or golden oaks, found in the southwestern United States (primarily New Mexico, Ari­ zona, and western Texas). These nutnbers tnay be disputed by some oaks students. Differences of opinion exist as to the true boundaries of the Chihuahuan Desert the potential hybrid sta­ tus of sotne of the oaks, and their delineation. Also new oaks not previously known to occur in the area are continually dis­ covered. Counting the additional oaks found in the adjacent Mexican State of Chihuahua, there are n1ore than 60 species. The Chihuahuan Desert Region is truly The Land o.fOaks. The production nursery industry of our area has started, on a small scale, the introduction of oaks with a limited species selec­ tion. Unfortunately the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) usually is the first one to be grown and sold, and it is commonly promoted as the best oak for the desert cit­ ies of the Southwest. The species of oak na­ < Guy & Edith Sternberg tive to this arid part of Author ,\1/ichae/ i\1/elendrez standing below Q. ari zonica the country are 1nuch in Catwalk Can• l'0 /1, Gila National Forest. New Mexico. contd. on pg. 22 International Gales

• • • contd. from pg. 21

better adapted here, and thus tnake bet­ ter choices for shade trees than the southern live oak. • At our nursery production progran1 in Los Lunas, New Mexico, at 4,900 feet el­ evation and USDA Zone 6b, the native oaks outperform the southern live oak in speed of growth, heat tolerance in a con­ tainer, and over-wintering success. In fact, we are unable to winter the south- • ©Guy & Edith Sternberg ern 1ive oak outdoors, but with the na- Acorns ofQ. arizonica collected at elevation 5,200 tive oaks we can. We also 1nust be aware ft. along the Gi!a River in New Mexico. of potential problems with live oaks (and red oaks) that have been harvested or 1. Q. arizonica -Arizona white oak collected from areas of Texas where oak Description: A medium-sized tree of wilt has been found, as well as the po­ the southwestern United States and ad­ tential danger of spreading fire ants. jacent Mexico, 30 to 60 feet or more in The following introduction to the oaks height, and 2 to 3 feet in trunk diameter, of the Chihuahuan Desert Region of the with irregular spreading crown of stout United States is intended to illustrate the branches. Leaves obovate or oblong, 1- vast diversity of our native oak resource. 3 inches long, short-pointed or rounded at apex, heart-shaped or rounded at base, White Oaks Section Quercus (for- edges slightly wavy-lobed and toothed merly Lepidobalanus) toward apex, thick and stiff, above dull This group displays bark that typically blue-green and nearly hairless and with is light gray and scaly (but black and veins sunken, beneath paler and densely furrowed in escarpment live oak). Tyloses hairy and with prominent raised veins,

are present in sutnmer wood (absent in shedding gradually in spring as the new I escarp1nent live oak), and lobes of leaves leaves unfold, except in colder parts of are rounded, except for Q. turbinella and its range where it will defoliate in the late Q. hinckleyi (which both have sharp, fall or early winter. Often, in colder cli­ 1nucronate lobes) and Q. pung ens var. mates, they will display good fall colors vaseyana (with ahnost bristly tips). resembling burgundy wine. Aco1ns are

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3/4 to I inch long, with shallow cups, mild to sweet nut-like flavor, particularly 3. Q. chihuahuens is - Chihuahua white in those found on the east slopes of the oak Organ Mountains. A tree to 40 feet tall with tardily de­ Distribution: Common in Arizona and ciduous leaves, greatly variable. Re­ in southwestern New Mexico, grading ported as being in the Quitman Moun­ into gray oak in the south-central high­ tains. I' ve yet to find this species, so I'm lands of New Mexico and perhaps in unable to offer personal observations. Texas in the Franklin and Hueco Moun­ tains. In the Manzano and Sandia Moun­ 4. Q. depressipes- Mexican dwarf oak tains this species is tnixed with gray oak An evergreen shrub to 10 feet, found and scn1b live oak, which can be quite in high grasslands or montane chapar­ confusing, with possible hybrid swanns. ral. It is found in the United States at the The habitat is oak woodlands in foot­ northwest sumn1it of Mt. Livern1.ore in hills and mountains from 5 000 to 7,600 the Davis Mountains of the Trans-Pecos feet elevation. Often this species is listed Region of Texas. as the largest of the southwestern ever­ green-type oaks, but this is not true, be­ 5. Q. fendleri (Q. xfendleri?) - Fendler cause En1ory oak becotnes a larger tree. oak Also called Capitan blue oak. 2. Q. carmenensis- Delcannen oak Description: Some students of oaks Recently reported in the Chisos Moun­ will lump this oak into the undulata hy­ tajns by Professor Mike Powell of Al­ brid group without n1uch thought given pine, Texas, who found only one speci­ to the gross n1orphological differences men about 3 feet tall. Cornelius Muller between the two. Fendler oak is an ever­ considered this scrub oak a hybrid. green or tardily deciduous species with oblong, sharply lobed leaves that are a tnetallic blue green. Bark is smooth and gray on young trees, turning to nearly black and checkered with age. Distribution: Native elevation range is 5,500 to 6,000 feet near the Capitan Mountains of south-central New Mexico. Under cultivation, Fendler oak is rapid growing and very ornamental, able to grow well in high pH clays. Fendler oak ©Guy & Edith Sternberg Foliage ofQ. arizonica in Cave Creek Canyon, Coronado National Forest. Arizona. Elevation 5,500/t. contd. on pg. 24

No.ll I Fall 2000 Page 23 international Oaks

• • •

contd. from pg. 23

can grow into a 40 to 50 foot single-stetn wild with a crown spread of30 to 35 feet. tree, with no habit of suckering. Leaves lance-shaped, 2 to 3 inches long and 1/2 to I inch wide, with short, spiny 6. Q. .fitstforn?is- escarpn1ent live oak lobes on young, fast-growing trees. Fall Also called New Mexico live oak. color can occur on trees in colder cli­ Description: Evergreen to sen1i-ever­ tnates, and can continue as winter color. green small tree, usually to 25 feet in the Acorns are sn1all and tnuch like those of the Etnory oak, 1/2 to 1 inch long and narrow, fonning in clusters (southern live oak has a larger, bulb-shaped acorn borne singly or in pairs). Bark is dark gray on young, fast-growing trees, turn­ ing a rough black with age, as is typical ofn1any black oaks. Distribution: Not always distin­ guished frotn the southern live oak in the literature. Lacking the tyloses of ©Guy & Edith Sternberg other white oaks, this species sometitnes Q. fusiform is, a cultivated tree in Tulsa. is assigned to the black oak group. This Oklahoma. North of the natural range. di stinctive evergreen tree is perhaps tnost ecologically suitable for the high, cold desert. Provenances of greater cold tolerance can be found in eastern New Mexico (on the Caprock formation east

of Roswell at 4,000 feet elevation) in I Garza County, Texas (at 2,200 feet eleva­ tion), and in Greer County, Oklahon1a (in the Quartz Mountains). A cotnn1on fail­ , ure of growers in the Southwest is not being careful with the seed source ofthis 19Guy & Edith Sternberg species resulting in growing southern Q. fusiformis near Quartz Jvlountain, Oklahoma. live oak and calling it escarpn1ent live This is a/ the northernmost natural popuLation of the species . oak in error. If planted in the A lbuquer-

• International Oaks que (USDA Zone 7a) area, only the New Mountains oftheGilaNational Forest, it Mexico tnaterial will prove to be ever­ can be found as low as 4,700 feet, with green and dependable. large, healthy populations. It occurs froin the Mexican States of Chihuahua and 7. Q. gambelii- Garnbel oak Coahuila north to Colorado, west to Also called Utah white oak or Rocky southwestern Wyon1ing, Utah, and Mountain white oak. N atnes sometin1es southern Nevada. Gambel oak is the only considered as synonyms include Q. native oak of Colorado and is the only carmenensis, Q. confitsa, Q. gunnisonii, con1n1on tree oak in the northern parts Q. leptophy lla, Q. 1n edia, Q. of New Mexico (excluding the Sandia, novomexicana, Q. obtus ifolia, Q. Zuni and Manzano Mountains). An­ pauciloba, Q. rydberg iana, Q. other interesting note on this species is submollis, Q. undulata, Q. utahensis, Q. that it will occur at lower elevations in venustula, Q. vreelandii. the southern part of its range than it can Description: A decidu­ up in Colorado or Wyo­ ous tree to 60 feet in wild ming. Gatnbel oak is easily stands and 80 feet under recognized by the deeply cultivation. A rare compo­ lobed leaves, which are nent of the Madrean oak larger than those of the ev­ woodlands and more ergreen to se1ni -evergreen common in the Pine Tran­ Southwesten1 oaks. It is sitional and Mixed Coni­ quite polymorphic and ac­ fer zones. The largest cording to tnany authors trees are found at 8,000 is involved in the parent­ feet in the grassland parks age of many hybrids. of the Gila National For­ Some of the oaks with est of southwestern New which it crosses are Q. Mexico, with trees cotn­ arizonica, Q. grisea, Q. ©Guy & Edith Ster nberg monly 60-100 feet in size. h. avar d . t·L ·, Q. moh rzana· , Q. In Texas it occupies only InternationaL Oak Society members 1nuhle nbergii, and Q. .Michael Melendrez (left). Guy the highest altitudes. I've Ster nberg (center), and Tom turbinella. The resulting found it difficult to locate Burleson with a large Q. gambelii hybrid grex is called Q. in Texas, except in the at Iron Creek in the Mimbres Moun- xundulata - wavy leaf oak. tains of New Mex ico. Ele vation Guadalupe Mountains 6,800 ji. When we have attempted and a sn1all population in propagating the so-called the Franklin Mountains near El Paso. In wavy leaf oak, the progeny do not hold the Organ Mountains, near Las Cruces, true, which suggests the hybrid theory it is comtnon from 8,900 feet elevation on down to 5,700 feet. ln the Mogollon contd. on pg. 26

No.ll I Fall 2000 Page 25 International Oaks

• • • contd. f rom pg. 25

habit. and leaves that are so hairy that you coul d say they are fu rry. Others near Glenwood, New Mexico could eas­ ily be tnistaken fo r Q. oblongifolia. Jt is a con1n1on oak of the desert grasslands chaparral and oak woodland s of the Chihuahuan Desert, becotning less com­ tnon in the Transitional Pine Forest of central New Mexico at elevations above 8,400 feet. Gray oak can grow in a wide c•Guy & Edith Sternberg Foliage of Q. gambclii in Catwalk Canyon. Gila range of soil types, from heavy saline National Forest. Nell' /vlexico. clays to gravel or sand cond itions. It seems always to be a rapid grower un­ is va li d. It's important to note that sotne der cul tivated condi tions. Gray oak is of the larger Gam bel oaks found in south­ perhaps the n1ost widespread oak spe­ ern New Mexico do not have the habit cies of the desett edge in New Mexico of suckering or fann ing clonal groves, occurring as far north as the Zuni and progeny grown fro n1 seed co ll ected Sandia and Manzano Mountains and from those single trees hold true to the south into all the southern n1ountain parent. Likewise seed collected off the ranges. In the Zun is it occurs with lignotuberous ty pes also hold true, hav­ ing a suckering habit.

8. Q. grisea- gray oak D escriJJI ion: Us ua!I y a stna II, low scrubby evergreen tree or shrub, or in better sites a mediu1n-sized tree to 65 feet in height with deciduous leaves when I occutTing at higher and colder sites. It occ urs with Emory oak in the Madrean Oak Woodlands of the desert edge. I ve c Guy & Edith St ernberg i\r/iclwel 1\ lelendre:: among the trunks (~I' a /urge Q. found gray oak in the n1o untains of cen­ grisca in the Tularosa t~founta ins (~{New Alfexico. Ele\'ation 7. ()() () fi . tral New Mexico with nearly evergreen •

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Gambel oak and the hybrid called Q. xundulata, or wavy-leaf oak. The larg­ est trees I have found that can be viewed fron1 a car occur at Cloverdale Park in the extreme southwestern comer ofNew Mexico, where they reach 50 -70 feet tall and wide. If viewing this grove, please ren1ember that this is private land stay on the road bed. Leaves are elliptic to ©Guy & Edith Sternberg ovate, 3/4 to 2 inches long, blunt or short­ Guy Sternberg picking seed ofQ. hinckleyi (a f eder­ pointed at apex, rounded or slightly aLLy endangered spec ie~) necw Shafte J ~ Texas. Eleva­ heart-shaped at the base, edges without / ion 4,100 .fi. teeth (except with young seedlings) or with a few teeth toward the apex, thin Texas. This sn1all oak, growing to only and firm, gray-green or blue-green, 3-5 feet tall, is known frotn only a few shiny and sparsely hairy above, beneath locations in the United States, but is densely hairy. Bark is fissured and with believed to be in Mexico also. It is ever­ shaggy plates, light gray. green, spreads underground, and fonns thickets on so1ne of the tnost awfhl, dry, 9. Q. havardii - Havard shin oak hot, sloped areas you will ever see in the Also known as scrub oak, shinnery Southwest. It is an oak of the true desert oak, and sand oak. scrub fonnation. Leaves are much like Description: A shrub to six feet tall, those of Q. turbinella, with sharp spine­ characteristic of the deep sands and tipped lobes. sandy grasslands around the eastern borders of the Chihuahuan Desert in New 11. Q. intricata- Coahuila scrub oak Mexico, Texas and into Oklaho1na. This Description: A thicket-fonning oak to is a true grassland oak, spreading by I 0 feet tall under cultivation, with stnall extensive rhizotnes forn1ing the largest evergreen leaves having si Ivery continuous oak ''forests" in the western indumentun1 on the underside. It is a part half of the United States. When planted of the chaparral and the oak woodlands in a soil of deco1nposed granitic clays, it forn1ation. Found in Texas at the Laguna grows rapidly into a 15-foot tree with little Meadows of the Chisos Mountains and rhizome habit. Of interest are the large, in the Eagle Mountains in Hudspeth sweet, annual acorns. County.

10. Q. hinckleyi - Hinckley oak J Description: A rare, endangered spe­ cies oflin1estone soils in Presidio County, contd. on pg. 28

No .11 I Fall 2000 Page 27

• International Oaks

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contd. from pg. 27

I 2. Q. laceyi (often confused with Q. can be found. glaucoides) - Lacey oak Description: Bur oak is more often Description: A beautiful oak to 25 feet found as a large deciduous tree of east­ tall with blue-green deciduous leaves. ern and mid-western savannas. In east­ Fall color is a sn1okey pink with sotne ern New Mexico it is found in shin oak orange and yellows. A rather rare tree savanna swells called buffalo wallows. found in the chaparral, grama grass­ This is a Large, fast-growing tree with lands, canyon scrub of Texas, and tem­ spectacular leaves of over 12 inches in perate areas of northern Mexico. In the length. In the Roswell, New Mexico area .. Trans-Pecos Reg-io11 it is found on hard ~here are examples of this plant growing 1i1nestone in Terrell County, in the left­ In yards of long abandoned homesteads land shut-up of the Solitario and in ' where the only water is fron1 the natural Mouse Canyon in the Chisos Mountains precipitation of less then 10 inches per of Big Bend National Park. In New year. I suspect these plants were col­ Mexico there are Lacey-like oaks grow­ lected from nearby relict stands, giving ing in the south-centraltnountains that them the natural adaptation for this hi oh look I ike non-evergreen Mexican blue b desert clitnate. If this is not a low-water oaks. This may be the case with some of tree, then I don't know what is! the so-called Mexican blue oaks reported to be in Texas. Lacey oak grows wei Lfor 14. Q. mohriana -Mohr oak us in a heavy clay soil, adding two feet Description: A tree to 40 feet tall, char­ or n1ore in height each year. Some fine acteristic of the grasslands and tnontane exatnples of it can be viewed at the Liv­ chaparral of the litnestone soils ofTexas ing Desert Museum in Carlsbad, New and New Mexico. This is a thicket former Mexico where it grows rapidly into a fine and is one of the more widespread of the tree. It has hi gh heat and drought toler­ Chihuahuan Desert oaks in the Trans­ ance, and is perhaps the best of all the Pecos. Leaves are tardily deciduous, gray southwestern oaks for landscape use. on top and Inuch lighter on the under­ side, close to those of the gray oak. 13. Q. n1.acrocarpa -bur oak Benny Simpson, the famous oak expert This species is a rare find in New frotn Texas A&M University, felt that Mexico, with a relict population occur­ Mohr oak was worthy of cultivation as ring near the san1e area that Q ..fu s ~formis an amenity plant and should be used

age 8 No.ll/ Fall 2 International Oaks more widely. I' n1 not sure its been used prec ipitation range of 12 - 18 inches per at all at least on purpose but it n1ay have year. 1t is not fo und in Ari zona., but can useful applications in hi gh and dry land­ be found in srnall nutn bers in the Davis scapes of the desert edge. Where Mohr Mountains and the Chi os Mountain oak and 1-l avard shin oak grow adj acent of West Texas. It is noteworthy because to each other, a cornmon hybrid occurs of its unusual distribution and iso lated that forn1 a 20-foot grove which is use­ New Mex ico localities westward of the ful as a wildlife shelterbelt or as a wind­ lin1its of continuous distribution in west­ break. Exan1ples of thi s hybrid can be ern Oklahon1 a and central Texas. Leaves seen ofT Interstate Route 40 from Shan1 - are obl ong or broadly lance-shaped, 3 rock Texas heading into we tern Okl a­ to I 0 inches long and l to 6 inches wide, holna ., in areas of deep sand . short or long-pointed, usually rounded at the base; edges wavy to sli ghtly lobed 15. Q. 1n uhlenbergii - chinquapi n oak with curved teeth, dark glossy green Description: This is a tree growing to above., paler and fin ely hairy beneath. 60 feet tall in the Chihuahuan Desert, but Acorn 1/2 to I 1/4 inches long, obl ong, n1uch larger in the n1ore hun1id areas to half enclosed by a deep cup dark choco­ the east. This is one of An1erica s tnost late brown. Bark thin, fissured and fl ak­ regal oaks, and seed frotn this desert ing on stems greater th en 3 inches in provenance should be widely pl anted in dian1 eter, light gray to a crean1y white. Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas. Distribution: In our area it is a tree of the 16. Q. ob long~fo lia- Mex ican blue oak oak woodlands and tnontane chaparral, Description: A s1nall tree to 30 feet and it has th e broadest natural geo­ with trun ks up to 1.5 feet in·dian1eter and graphic and habitat range of any of the with a spreading rounded crown, or a Tetnperate-Zone oaks of the United shn1b at higher elevations. States. Chinquapin oak ranges in the Di ·tribution: In Ari zona and in New United States fron1 northwestern Florida Mexico this oal is a part of the canyon north to Vermont, west to Wisconsin and desert scrub-grassland fo rn1ation, as Io w a, and S0uth to Texas. 1t is very rare we ll as the n1 ontane chaparral and oak and local in n1ountain canyons of south­ woodlands a sociations. In the low-el­ eastern and south central New Mex ico, evati on rn oun tains of extreme south­ bordering the eastern plains. In New western New Mexico (the Gray Ranch • Mexico this species is fo und grovving in area of the New Mex ico panhandle) this the Capitan and Guadulupe Mountains is a cotn mon oak of the Coronado Na­ associated with the bigtooth n1apl e., all i­ tional Forest fron1 4,500 feet to 6,000 feet gator juniper, sandpaper oak and sotol. lts elevati on range in New Mexico i from 4,000 feet up to 7 000 feet with a contd. on pg. 30

No .11 I Fall 2000 Page 29 International. Oaks

• • • contd. from pg. 29

in elevation. It also occurs in the north­ growing juvenile growth), thin and finn, ern Mexico states of Chihuahua and without hairs, blue-green in su1n1ner and

Sonora. This is a confusing tree in Texas tun1ing more blue during winter months. . ~ I because few of the tnajor floras listed it. The bark is unique among all the west­ Yet Sargent described it in 1905 as being ern white oaks, with small, fissured, in the Chi sos Mountains of western square plates, and is light gray in color. Texas, but co1nparatively rare in this area. 17. Q. organensis (Q. Xorganensis?)- Organ Mountain white oak See Q. polymorpha below. Found grow­ ing in only one small population on the west slope of the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. In the wild, the parent plants have large evergreen leaves (up to 5 inches x 2 inches), sn1aller than those ofthe Mexican Q. polymorpha, but much larger then either the Arizona ~Q Guy & Edith Sternberg white oak (Q. arizonica) or gray oak (Q. Author Al/ichael A!/elendrez slancl~· under a large Q. organensis in the arroyo hefoyv Dripping Springs, in grisea). It has been suggested that it is a I he Organ Mounwins of southern New Me.xico. El­ natural hybrid of Q. arizonica X Q. grisea, eva! ion 6, I 00 .fi. but our work in propagating it suggests It has been reported in the Bofecillos the progeny are n1ore si.milar to Q. Mountains of Texas which are adjacent polymorpha. Unlike tnost other oak hy­ to the Chisos. The only oaks that I've brids, the Organ Mountain white oak is seen in the Bofecillos or the Chisos that very stable, with the progeny holding true. look like Mexican blue oak are in fact Lacey oaks, which are not evergreen. 18. Q. polymorpha- Monterrey white oak Large exatnples of this oak can be found This is a newly discovered oak for the at Cloverdale, New Mexic~ , with some United States and the Chihuahuan Desert trees gro\ving up to 70 feet tall. Leaves at Dolan Falls, Texas. are oblong., 1-2 inches long, rounded at Description: A tree to 70 feet tall with both ends or heart-shaped at the base, irregular crown. Leaves are evergreen to edges without teeth (except on fast- tardily deciduous, large, glossy above,

Page 30 . No.ll/ Fall 2000 • International Oaks

rusty floccose beneath. Distribution: a Carlsbad. Fall color can be a crimson red wide distribution in Mexico, and south to that is long lasting. This could be one of Guatetnala. Found in Val Verde County, the n1ost ornamental high desert trees for Texas in only one location thus far, near the sn1aller landscapes of cities. Dolan Falls on the Dolan Falls property of the Texas Nature Conservancy. There 20. Q. pungens var. vaseyana (synonytn are three large trees that appear pure Q. vaseyana)- Vasey oak and several up and down a rocky creek A tree to almost 50 feet, but usually a that could be hybrids. Young, vigorous thicket-forming shrub. Seen in its purest growing trees in our nursery resetnble form on the Edwards Plateau and enter­ an evergreen chinquapin oak, but with ing the Chihuahuan Desert in Terrell, a more hooded, waxy leaf. Seedlings of Crockett and Val Verde counties, Texas, it the Organ Mountain white oak look intergrades with sandpaper oak, espe­ identical to Q. ]Jolymorpha seedlings cially in Brewster County and Eddy of equal age and treatment, even with­ County, New Mexico. The leaves ofVasey out rapid juvenile growth. Organ Moun­ oak are not rough like sandpaper, are not tain white oak (Q. organensis) often has nearly as pungently crisped, and are a been considered a hybrid of Q. bright, pea green. Like sandpaper oak its arizonica and Q. grisea, but the prog­ leaves are tardily deciduous, and both eny, when given equal treatment with species give the appearance of small holly Q. polymorpha, suggest to me that it (flex) trees, not oaks. The Eddy County, may not be a hybrid of those species, New Mexico population of this species or a hybrid at all. will turn a bright critnson late-Fall color it holds all winter. In the lower Blue Creek 19. Q. pungens var. pungens - sandpaper Canyon of the Chisos Mountains, Vasey oak oak is seen in pure form weeping over the This is a tree sotnetimes reaching 20 dry stream bed at 4,500- 5,000 feet eleva­ feet tall, but usually a shrub, much lower tion, looking sotnewhat like a white-oak and thicket fanning. The evergreen to version of Q. graciliforn1is, which is sub-evergreen leaves are s1nall, undulate, nearby. Vasey oak is a member of the crisped, with mucronate tips and a defi­ grasslands, desert sctub, and oak wood­ nite sandpaper feeling, and with a blue­ lands associations, and is not found in gray cast. Thjs is a shrub-tree ofthe desert Arizona. scrub, canyon scrub and montane chap­ arral associations. It is thicket forming in 21. Q. rugosa- net leaf oak (synonyms: Q. the grassland and chaparral. The easiest reticu lata and Q. diversicolor) place to see sandpaper oak is to the left Description: An evergreen tree to 40 of the entrance to the Lincoln National Forest on New Mexico Route 137 out of contd. on pg. 32 International Oaks

• • • contd. from pg. 31 feet tall with a broad rounded crown, or a Distribution: 4,000 to 7,000 feet eleva­ shrub. Leaves are beautifu l and rugose, tion, Mexican Border region, fo und in the obovate elliptic gray-green to bri ght tnontane chaparral and oak wood lands green. This species can vary quite a lot in associations ofA rizona and New Mexico. the size and shape of the leaves, frotn a In Arizona it fonns an open fo rest on the large Q. po(vn1orpha-like fo nn, to a small Mule Moun tains in Cochise County and Q. turbinella-like form but without tn u­ in Texas Canyon east of Benson; in New cronate lobes. Mexico, in the chaparral and oak wood­ Distribution: A n oak of the n1ontane lands of the Peloncillo Mountains in chaparral and oak woodlands at relati vely Hidalgo County. I have not seen it in Texas high elevations. It is a rare oak in Texas, but Cornelius Mull er pl aced it in the but more con1tnonly in the Black Range, Franklin Mountains and the Qui ttnan Diabl o Mountain and the Mogo llons of Mountains. Richard Spell enberg has re­ the Gila Nati onal Forest of New Mex ico viewed those specim ens from the and found in all the southeastern moun­ Franklins and does not concur. Van tains of Arizona bordering New Mexico. Devender and Ri ski nd found Q. tou1neyi Acorns are attached to long peduncles. debri s to be very common to abundant in The bark of the nctleaf oak is sitnilar to packrat 1niddens at Hueco Tanks State that of the chinquapin oak, with a fl aking Park dating back to the late Pleistocene habit on stnall branches. Q. rugosa may to early Holocene 13 000-8 000 BP. be the tnost ornatnenta1 sn1 all evergreen tree in the Southwest, with the potential 23. Q. turbinella - scrub Ii ve oak of being used into USDA Zone 5 of the Description: An evergreen shrub to a Midwest. Netleaf oak shares with chin­ stnall tree of 15 feet with son1e exceptional quapin oak the ability to grow we ll in trees reaching 30-35 feet. Scru b li ve oak heavy, moist clay soils of hi gh pH. is an attractive small oak and one that people in the Southwest are rnore fa mi Ii ar 22. Q. tounrzeyi- Tourney oak vvith because it's fo und closer to AIbu­ Description: A tree or shrub up to 30 querque and El Paso than other nati ve feet tall. Leaves are stnall, entire, ovate, oaks. Leaves are stnall elliptic or oblong, and evergreen. Aco 111 s I/2 to 3/4 inch one-half to one inch long., short -po.in t ed long, with shallow cups. Bark thin, scaly edges with spine-like teeth thick and stiff or fla ky, dark brown. above blue-green with a bl oom and International Oaks nearly hairless, beneath yellowish green to white oaks (except for those of Q. and finely hairy. etnoryi, which are sweet). It has been said Distribution: Lowest elevation occur­ that red oaks in general are not as drought rence: Organ Mountains at 5 000 feet resistant as the white oaks, although Sandia Mountains at 5,700 feet, Gila Na­ some clai'tn the reverse is true. tional Forest at 4,400 feet. It is co1nmon in the chaparral and oak 24. Q. canbyi- Canby oak woodlands of Arizona This species of red oak and New Mexico. A fine is found at high elevations location for viewing this in the n1ountains of north- species is on the west easten1 Mexico. It looks a slope ofthe Sandia Moun- lot like the Langtty oak and tains (outside of Albu- the graceful oak (Q. q uerque) on the Juan gracilijorn1is). The acorns Tabo picnic grounds road. mature in one season. We ln Texas its greatest occur- have a specimen that was renee is in the Franklin grown from an 8,000-foot Mountains, but it can also provenance, and it is per- • be found in the Eagle and fanning well at our arbore- Quitman Mountains of tum. With rapid growth ~Guy & Edith Sternberg Hudspeth County. It addingabout4to5feeteach An old treeh ouse built in a Q. should be used much emoryi located in Glenwood. New sumn1er, and the last flush more widely in the Mexico sen •es as a p erch for of growth taking place in Chihuahuan Desert and in authorlvlichael lvlelendrez. late Septetuber, it still seems other areas where drought tolerance is to harden up enough for the first hard sought. lt n1ay be the hardiest of the ev- fl-ost ofOctober. It is se1ni-evergreen here ergreen oaks in cold winter areas. and gives a maroon winter color that can last for tnonths. It is reported to grow well BLACK OAKS or RED OAKS on soils of alkaline limestone origin. (Section Lobatae, or Subgenus Erythrobalanus) 25. Q. en10l)li- En1ory oak Bark black and furrowed, leaves, if Also called bellota (aco111) oak black­ lobed, with bristle (aristate) tips, wood jack oak and black oak. without tyloses. Acorns take two years Description: A tree typically 40 to 60 to 1nah1re (except for Q. en1oryi and Q. feet tall , except in western New Mexico canbyi, that n1ature the first year, and Q. where specimens can be found up to 100 hypoleucoides, which mature either the first or second year), acorn cups tornen­ tose inside, acorns quite bitter con1pared contd. on pg. 34

No .11 I Fall 2000 Page 33 International Oaks

• • • contd. from pg _ 33 feet tall and with trunks in a wide arrangernent of ( over 7 feet in diamete1: Large soils or rock types, from trees look tn ucl1 like the fine alluvial fills to gravel • southern live oak of the and cobble arroyos, lime­ Southeast, with large hori­ stone to granite, and sand­ zontal branches swooping stone hilltops that are ex­ down to the ground, but cessively draining with no with taller, domed crowns topsoil developtnent. The reaching as high as 100 potential is there for an ex­ feet. A typical large speci­ cel lent large tree for the n1en may reach 60 feet tall high and dry landscapes by 10 0 feet wide. I ' v e of the Southwest and counted over 600 annual West Coast. rings on sotne branch cuts <.'Guy & Edith St ernberg Distribution: Occur­ that are 4 feet in diameter. Nle/endrez sits in the .fork of Q. ring in Catron, Dona Ana, This slow growth is a re­ emoryi near GlenH'Ooc/. New Hidalgo, Luna and Sierra sult of the aridity of this i\1/exico. Elevation 5,000 ft. This Counties, New Mexico, in specimen is I 8 feel in circumfer­ region. Leaves are ever- ence. and 111Cil' become the n e 'I-V na- open desert scrub/grass­ • green to tardily deciduous, tiona/ champion for this particular land sites starting at 4,000 • dar 1

Page 34 No .11 I Fall .2000 International Oaks

• • • contd. from pg. 35

I and Lamb in Oaks ofNorthAmerica. This inch long, pointed, one-third enclosed in oak is found in canyons or mountain a thick cup that is hairy inside, and col­ slopes in montane chaparral and oak ored a light grayish green when ripe. woodland at about 5,000 feet or higher in Distribution: A beautiful oak of the the Chisos, Del Norte and Glass Moun­ high canyons in the oak woodlands, gen­ tains, in Brewster County, Texas. Also in erally above 7,000 feet, in southeastern the Davis and Vieja Mountains, in Jeff Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, Davis County; in the Madera Mountains, but found as low as 4,000 feet and as high in Pecos County; and perhaps in Val as 9,000 feet in New Mexico. Found in Verde County. Chisos red oak can be Texas only in the Davis Mountains ofthe found on both igneous and limestone Trans-Pecos region. soils, and trees from each edaphic prov­ enance do well at the Texas Agricultural 29. Q. (x?) sp.- Langtry red oak Research and Extension Center at Dallas. This is a controversial evergreen red oak to about 50 feet tall, found in the head 28. Q. hypoleucoides - silverleaf oak canyons of the Rio Grande River just be­ Also called white-leaf oak. low the confluence of the Pecos River. (synonym: Q. hypoleuca) When Major En1ory did the Mexican Description: A stnall to tnedium tree boundary survey in the early 19th cen­ 35-40 feet in height, with some exceptional tury, this oak was found in at least one trees in the Gila Wilderness being over 80 head canyon of the Rio Grande and was feet tall. Trunks in the deep canyons of reported as Q. coccinea var. microcarpa. the Gila can be single stetn, with clear Cornelius Muller said this specimen is boles of30 feet or 1nore and diatneters of clearly representative of Q. gravesii, and 3 to 5 feet. It is sometimes a clump-form­ he postulated that it was probably col­ ing shrub 6 to 20 feet tall on dry, south­ lected in the mountains farther west. Af­ facing scree slopes. Leaves are lance- to ter over 100 years, the oak was found willow-shaped and evergreen, to 1 inch again, and Muller once again tentatively wide and 4 inches long. Leaf edges are identified it as Q. gravesii. However, after revolute (rolled under), and the blades are growing this oak out in New Mexico and sn1ooth, blue-green on top and silvery seeing it at the Texas Agricultural Experi­ tomentose on the undersides. Acorns are ment Station at Dallas, it appears to be a annual (or sotnetimes biennial), I /2 to 3/4 completely different species. International International Oaks

Oak Society 1nen1ber Pat McNeal of n1uch 1ik e the Paltner oak. Acorns are 5/8 McNeal Growers feels that there are sev­ to I l /2 inches long broad, maturing in 2 eral populations of oak that all could be years. The large cup is a spreading, tur­ Langtty oaks. Pat has probably seen n1ore ban-like cap sometimes reaching 1/4 inch examples of this oak (in the wild and un­ or tnore out from the acorn sutface. The der cultivation) then anyone else alive, inside surface of the cup is covered with and feels it is unique when con1pared to a fine golden coat of hairs. The bark is the other red oaks of the region. I trust fissured into narrow scales and flakes, Pat and accept his opini on that the gray or dark gray. Langtry oak is a distinct species and not Distribuhon: Q. chrysolepis grows just a hybrid. from the coastal and transverse moun­ tains of Californi a into the south western mountains ofNew Mexico in Catron and GOLDEN OAKS Grant Counties. It is never cotnmon in Section Protoba!anus (formerly subge­ southeastern Arizona or New Mexico but nus Protobalanus) can be fo und easil y in California, in areas as cold as the north shore of Lake Tahoe 30. Q. chrysole]Jis- canyon live oak near the Cal-Neva Hotel. In canyons and Native to the tnountains of California on Jn ountainsid es it often forms low­ Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, growing thickets or woodlands, fron1 el­ this species is vari able in fonn size and evation 3,500 up to 7,000 feet. leaf. Description: Evergreen shrub to large 31. Q. palmeri- Palmer oak tree growing up to 50 feet or tall er in the Also called the Canyon li ve oak. n1ountains of California but usually a (Q. . chrysolejJis va r. pahneri, Q. dunnii) small tree to 25 feet in the Southwest. lt Descri]Jfion: An evergreen shrub or can have a ta ll , pole-) ike structure with small tree, usually 6 to 25 feet tall and up strong apical dominance and short hori­ to 6 to 10 inches in trunk diameter., with a zontal branches. Larger trees in Califor­ dense, bushy, wide-spreading crown. nia may be n1ulti -trunked with a wide Leaves are spiny-toothed, elliptic to ovate, spreading, n1assive structure. Leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, edges crisp and leath­ entire on n1 ost n1ature trees, ovate, 1 to 2 ery shiny yellow-green to dark green inches long, blunt or shoti-poi nted at the above and slightly yellowish to white apex, finn, with a dark, shinny green sur­ beneath. Acorns are 5/8 to 1 inch long, face and light whitish-green underside. broad., n1 aturing in the second year. The On seedlings or rapid growing juvenile trees, the leaves can be spiny toothed contd. on pg. 38

No.ll I Fall 2000 Page 37 International Oaks

• • • contd. from pg. 37 cup is spreading (but not as turban spiny, evergreen leaves resembling the shaped as that of the canyon live oak), - juvenile foliage of the canyon live oak with fine golden hairs covering the in­ and spiny forms of the holly oak (Q. ilex) side. of Spain. All three can display entire leaf Distribution: Canyons and margins with slower growth at 1naturity. mountainsides of the Southwest, eleva­ Under nursery cultivation, they easily can tions 3,500 to 6,000 feet; New Mexico in be confused. All can be rapid growers Catron, Hidalgo, Grant, Luna and Sierra under cultivation, adding 3 feet or more Counties; Arizona in the mountains of each year. southeastern and central parts; south and west of the Mogollon Rim. Also found in Copyright© 1996, Michael Martin Melendrez southern Nevada, southwestern Utah Revised by Sternberg and Coombes, 2000 and southern California. Palmer oak has

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