THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SPECIES OF QUERCUS 41 



Range: Southeastern United States to Cuba, Baja California, and 

 the Gulf Coast of Mexico to Panama. 



Includes: Q. oleoides Schlecht. and Cham, and several United 

 States and Mexican species including Q. virginiana Mill. (type). 



19. Quercus oleoides Schlecht. and Cham., Linnaea 5: 79. 1830. 



Quercus lutescens Mart, and Gal., Bui. Acad. Brux. 10: 219. 



1843. 

 Q. oleoides var. australis Trel., Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci. 20: 114. 



pi. 192, 193. 1924. 

 Q. oleoides f. lutescens Trel., Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci. 20: 114. pi. 



194. 1924. 



Medium-sized or large tree. Twigs 1 to 2 mm. thick, fluted, from 

 densely short-stellate-tomentose becoming glabrate or persistently 

 puberulent, gray, the lenticels rarely evident. Buds about 2 mm. long, 

 subrotund, broadly rounded, dark reddish brown, glabrate; stipules 

 immediately caducous. Leaves evergreen, thick and rather hard, 4 

 to 8 or rarely 10 cm. long, 2 to 4 or sometimes 6 cm. broad, obovate 

 to oblanceoiate or rarely elliptic or rhomboid, broadly rounded to 

 acute at apex, basally cuneate or subobtuse, entire or occasionally 

 mucronately few-toothed especially toward the apex, margins minutely 

 revolute, upper surface from stellate-puberulent becoming glabrous or 

 persistently pubescent, somewhat shining, lower surface densely and 

 minutely appressed-stellate-canescent, the veins often glabrate; veins 

 about 6 or 8 on each side, much branched but obscurely anastomosing, 

 scarcely evident above or slightly impressed, rather prominent below, 

 the reticulum very obscure; petioles 4 to 6 (or sometimes 2 or 10) mm. 

 long, puberulent. Staminate catkins about 3 cm. long, the puberulent 

 rachis rather closely flowered, the puberulent anthers scarcely ex- 

 serted. Pistillate catkins 5 to 25 mm. long, 1- to 6- or 8-flowered 

 distally or scattered on the puberulent peduncle. Fruit annual, soli- 

 tary, paired, or several on a peduncle 1 to about 6 cm. longr; cups 

 turbinate to hemispheric or deep-flaring, about 10 to usually 12 

 or 15 mm. in diameter, the scales flat or somewhat keeled, not evi- 

 dently thickened basally except in very young cups, broadly deltoid, 

 rather acute, gray-pub erulent; acorns 18 to 25 mm. long, 13 to 18 

 mm. broad, ovoid or elliptic, glabrous, light brown, about one-third 

 or sometimes only one-fourth included. (See pis. 51 to 53.) 



Range: Lowlands of eastern Mexico and Guatemala to Costa Rica, 

 rarely reaching 1,000 m. altitude; type from near Jalapa, Veracruz, 

 Mexico (Schiede 23). 



Quercus oleoides is the only member of the series Virentes reaching 

 Central America, and is the only one south of the boundary region of 

 northern Mexico. The forma lutescens is merely a juvenile leaf form 

 which may appear on any shaded branch or root-sprout. The 

 markedly toothed leaves of some specimens are the expression of this. 

 The variety australis is scarcely distinct from the typical form in 

 Mexico. Some of the Central American specimens bear cup scales in 

 quite as definite vertical series as the type, and not all the material 

 from the type region exhibits this character. This appears to be the 

 sole basis for the variety. 



Specimens examined: 



MEXICO.— Chiapas: Sabana Palenque, July 9-14, 1939, Matuda 8782 (F, 

 Mi); Motozintla, February 1939, Martinez 374 (USNA); Copainala, February 



