Bigelow Oak

Woody Plants of El Rancho Cima, Texas

Bigelow Oak
Quercus durandii var. breviloba (Fagaceae; Beech Family)

Thicket-forming shrub or tree to 25 ft tall.

Leaves: Deciduous, simple, alternate; 1-3 inches long, 1/2-1 1/4 inches wide; shape variable, generally obovate to elliptic; margin entire, wavy or shallowly lobed; apex round to 3-lobed; base wedge-shaped, round, or tapered; thick; smooth, gray-green above, paler below with thick grayish matted hair, appearing a dirty white, rarely with little or no hair below; petiole to 1/2 inch long.

Flowers: Separate male and female flowers (catkins) on the same plant; male catkins 1-2 inches long, sparsely flowered; female catkins 1/8-1/3 inch long, 1-3 flowered with red stigmas.

Fruit: Acorn, single or 2-3 together, stalk to 1/3 inch long; fruit 3/8-1 inch long, 1/4-1/2 inch wide; the cup covers up to 1/3 of the acorn.

Bark: In rough, peeling strips.

Twigs: Greenish-gray or brown with dense matted hair when young, dark gray and smooth when older.

Use: Fuel or fence posts.

Range: Occasionally found through the uplands of the camp, very common in the Ironwheel Mesa campground. Globally found in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico.

Other: Quercus is the Latin word for Oak and durandii honors E.M. Durand (1794-1873), a botanist. Breviloba, the variety name, is for the short lobes of the leaves.

Much of each species technical description is taken from Robert A. Vines, 1961, Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest. Vines was a superb field botanist and educator.