Shrubs or small trees , deciduous or subevergreen. Bark dark gray to almost black, scaly. Twigs brownish, 1-2 mm, usually persistently pubescent. Buds reddish brown, ovoid, ca. 1 mm. Leaves: petiole 2-3.5 mm. Leaf blade oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, 15-25(-30) × (6-)8-12(-15) mm, base obtuse or cuneate, rarely subcordate, margins strongly cartilaginous, entire, sometimes sparsely mucronate-dentate toward apex, secondary veins 7-8 on each side, apex acute, sometimes rounded; surfaces abaxially dull gray, microscopically pubescent with long, soft, white or yellow hairs concentrated in tufts along midvein and base, adaxially glossy green, sparsely minutely stellate-pubescent or glabrate. Acorns solitary or paired, subsessile or on peduncle 2 mm; cup cup-shaped, 6 mm deep × ca. 8-9 mm wide, enclosing ca. 1/3 nut, scales moderately tuberculate; nut light brown, narrowly ovoid or elliptic, 8-15 × 6-8 mm. Cotyledons distinct.
Flowering spring. Rocky slopes, oak woodlands, and open chaparral; 1500-1800 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora).
Quercus toumeyi , particularly the more spinescent-leaved form, is often confused with Q . turbinella . The latter species has acorns on peduncles greater than 10 mm, and more or less evenly distributed minute, flat, stellate trichomes on the abaxial leaf surface, in contrast to the subsessile acorns and longer straight hairs along the midvein of the abaxial leaf surface in Q . toumeyi .
Plant: shrub or tree; to ca. 3 m high, the bark rough, furrowed, light gray; young twigs densely to moderately covered with hairs, soon losing some or all pubescence, smooth reddish-brown beneath pubescence, the older twigs gray, becoming rough and sometimes blackened
Leaves: unlobed, oblong-lanceolate, oblong-oblanceolate, or elliptic, 1-4 cm long, 0.4-1.4 cm wide, 1.9-3.3 times as long as wide, glabrous above, sparsely to densely covered with glandular hairs below, usually sparsely covered with stellate hairs below, persisting about 1 year, deciduous in spring or summer; stellate hairs of lower leaf surface with 4-14 arms; apex acute, obtuse, or acuminate, the tip generally mucronate; base truncate, cordate, rounded, or acute; petiole 1-3 mm long, moderately to densely woolly, often reddish; midvein nearly flat above, prominent below; lateral veins 4-7 pairs, scarcely distinguishable from secondary venation above, faint below; secondary veins forming a reticulate pattern with laterals above and below; blade stiffly coriaceous, lustrous above, dull below; margin entire or with 1 to a few shortly spinose teeth
INFLORESCENCE: staminate flowers in aments; pistillate flowers solitary or in groups on spikes, these sometimes abbreviated, each pistillate flower with a separate involucre
Flowers: mostly wind-pollinated, unisexual, the perianth much reduced or absent; staminate flowers in heads or aments, the perianth greenish, the stamens 4-6; pistillate flowers usually tricarpellate, solitary or in clusters of about 3 or more, subtended individually or in groups by an involucre that develops into a woody cupule enclosing or subtending the mature fruit(s)
Fruit: ACORNS 1-1.5 cm long; cap ca. 5-7 mm long, woolly within; scales with thickened bases; nut-shell glabrous within except for a puberulent apex
Misc: In chaparral and oak forests, often with Q. grisea; 1200-2000 m (3900-6600 ft); Apr-May (fr. Aug)
REFERENCES: Landrum, Leslie R. Fagaceae. 1994. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 203-214
Common Name: Toumey oak
Duration: Perennial
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Tree
General: Shrub to small tree reaching 3 m tall, bark rough, furrowed, light gray, young twigs densely to moderately covered with hairs, soon losing some or all pubescence, smooth reddish-brown beneath pubescence, older twigs gray, becoming rough and sometimes blackened.
Leaves: Unlobed, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, 1-4 cm long, 0.4-1.4 cm wide, 1.9-3.3 times as long as wide, glabrous above, glandular hairs below, persisting about one year; apex acut or acuminate, tip mucronate, base truncate, or acute, petiole 1-3 mm long, woolly, often reddish, midvein prominent below; blade stiffly leathery, lustruous above, dull below, margin entire or with teeth.
Flowers: Wind pollinated staminate aments, with reduced perianth parts; stamens 4-6.
Fruits: Acorns 1-1.5 cm long, cap 5-7 mm long, woolly within, scales with thickened bases, nut shell glabrous within except for puberulent apex.
Ecology: Found on rocky slopes in chaparral and oak forests from 4,000-6,500 ft (1219-1981 m); flowers April-May.
Distribution: s AZ, sw NM, s TX; south to n MEX.
Notes: Distinguished by being a medium to large shrub (< 3 m); the shiny, entire-margined (sometimes with a few teeth), spinose tipped leaves < 4 cm long, with a yellowish tinge; and the rough older bark.
Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genera have many uses.
Etymology: Quercus is the classical Latin word for oak, thought to be derived from Celtic quer, fine, and cuez, tree, while toumeyi is named for James W. Toumey (1865-1932) a botanist and professor at the University of Arizona.
Synonyms: None
Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015
