THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SPECIES OP QUERCUS 37 



16. Quercus vicentensis TreL, Mem. "Nat. Acad. Sci. 20: 59. 1924. 

 Quercus comasaguana TreL, Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci. 20: 43. 1924. 



Large tree. Twigs about 2 mm. thick, obscurely fluted, from dark 

 brown becoming gray, from scantily puberulent soon glabrate with 

 prominent lenticels. Buds (fide TreL) apparently glabrous, glossy 

 brown, round-ovoid; the stipules caducous, about 6 mm. long, ligulate, 

 dorsally sparsely pubescent. Leaves evergreen, moderately thick and 

 firm, about 7 to 10 or 15 cm. long and 2 to 3.5 or 6 cm. broad, oblong 

 to lanceolate or oblanceolate, rounded to acute or narrowly rounded 

 apically, cordulate or rounded to subcuneate at base, entire or coarsely 

 toothed apically, margins flat or minutely revolute, upper surface 

 dull, from sparingly glandular-puberulent becoming glabrate except 

 along the base of the midrib, lower surface from densely creamy - 

 tomentose rather persistently tomentulose, the denuded surface waxy- 

 glaucous; veins about 12 to 15 on each side, very irregular, obviously 

 branching and anastomosing, somewhat impressed above, very 

 prominent beneath; petioles about 5 mm. long, persistently stellate- 

 pubescent or glabrate. Staminate catkins 3 to 4 cm. long, the glandu- 

 lar-puberulent rachis loosely flowered, anthers moderately exserted. 

 Pistillate catkins 1.5 to 2 cm. long, the glandular-puberulent peduncle 

 distally 2- or 3-flowered. Fruit? (See pis. 42 and 43.) 



Range: Known only from El Salvador. 



It is very difficult to assign relationships to this poorly known 

 species. Its leaves are to some extent reminiscent of the Mexican 

 series Obscurae TreL, but no specimens from the well-explored Guate- 

 malan area have appeared to link the two. Until more complete 

 Salvadoran specimens are available, the species must remain problem- 

 atic, but there is no doubt of its distinctness from previously 

 described entities. 



It is not at all clear why Trelease assigned Q. comasaguana to his 

 series Oocarpae from which its nearly glabrous twigs and basally 

 scarcely narrowed and rather thick-bladed leaves amply separate it. 

 The only known specimen is juvenile and apparently a shade form; 

 therefore it is more densely pubescent and has rather expanded leaves. 

 However, its identity with Q. vicentensis is obvious. 



The oaks of El Salvador are badly in need of further collecting. No 

 species is known from more than a few specimens, and one obviously 

 undescribed species must go unnamed for lack of sufficiently mature 

 material. 



Specimens examined: 



EL SALVADOR.— Comasagua, December 1922, Calderon 1430 (US [type of 

 Q. comasaguana]). Dept. San Vicente: Volcan de San Vicente, March 7-8, 

 1922, Standley 21593 (US [type]). 



Series Reticulatae TreL, Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci. 20: 72. 1924. 



Shrubs to medium-sized trees with glabrate or usually pubescent 

 twigs; buds ovoid, the stipules usually persistent; leaves medium-sized 

 or sometimes small or very large, evergreen or deciduous, mostly obo- 

 vate, entire to crenately pungent, markedly impressed-veiny and 

 glabrate above, rather persistently tomentulose to densely woolly 

 beneath or sometimes glabrate, the lower surface often waxy-glaucous; 

 short-petiolate and often deeply cordate; fruit pedunculate, the cup 

 scales usually merely puberulent, nut brown or reddish, the apices 

 thin and very loosely appressed. 



