Quercus chrysolepis Liebm.

Mexico; Southwest United States; to 2700 m; introduced in Europe in 1877 by Ch. Sargent;

6-20 m tall; short, broad trunk; crown rounded to spreading; shrubby at high elevations;

1.4-5 x 1-3 cm; evergreen; elliptic to oval; flat; apex pointed, base rounded; margins slightly revolute, minutely dentate or sometimes entire; thick, leathery; shiny dark green above; when young with golden tomentum beneath, then becoming bluish-grey with 4-8 rayed stellate hairs and some glandular ones; 8-15 vein pairs at an angle of 50° with midrib; petiole yellowish 3-12 mm, rusty pubescent, flattened underside;

in April-May; 7-9 stamens;

acorn 2-4 cm, ovoid, blunt-tipped, singly or paired; cup sessile or nearly so, 1.5-4 cm wide, shallow, thick, tomentose inside, with pubescent, flat or warty scales sometimes covered with yellow tomentum (hence the name “golden cup oak”); maturing in 2 years;

hardy; prefers moist, well-drained soils; very slow growing;

– A. Camus : n° 293; – Sub-genus Quercus, section Protobalanus ; – One of the most beautiful Californian oaks; wood hard, heavy; bearing flowers longer than other oaks; lives up to 300 years and more; – Resembles Q.cedrosensis , but the latter is shrubby and has much smaller and mostly entire leaves, and small acorns;