''Quercus sinuata ''var.'' sinuata'', commonly called Durand oak, is a variety of '' Quercus sinuata'', a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

that grows in parts of the southern

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and northeastern

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. The common name Durand white oak most often refers to this

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

. The less specific common name bastard oak may refer to either of the two varieties of ''Quercus sinuata'', var. ''sinuata'' and var. ''breviloba''. Other common names include bastard white oak and bluff oak, but these names more often refer to '' Quercus austrina''. For clear differentiation in common reference,

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uses bluff oak to mean ''Quercus Austrina'', Durand oak to mean ''Quercus sinuata'' var. ''sinuata'' and Bigelow oak to mean ''Quercus sinuata'' var. ''breviloba'', a shrubby variety of ''Quercus sinuata'' distinguished in part from var. ''sinuata'' by its habit of forming clonal colonies in parts of its range.

Description

Historical description

''Quercus sinuata'' 12. ''foliis sinuatis laevibus obtusis supra pallidis, subtus subglaucis, glandibus mediocribus globosis calyce subplano.'' ''Quercus sinuata'' 12. Smooth, sinuate leaves, broadly rounded or blunt at the tip, pale above and almost blue-green with a whitish bloom on the underside, acorns moderately spherical with almost flat cupules.

Taxonomy

Synonymous names for this taxon include ''Quercus durandii'' Buckley (1861) and ''Quercus undulata'' Engelm. (1878). Because it was given by

Samuel Botsford Buckley Samuel Botsford Buckley (May 9, 1809 – February 18, 1884) was an American botanist, geologist, and naturalist. Buckley was born in Torrey, New York, on May 9, 1809. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1836. He received a Ph.D. from Waco U ...

to name some

s he believed to be varieties but are now understood to be separate species, the term "durandii" is currently regarded as "nomen confusum." The honorary association with Elias Magloire Durand is preserved in the most widely accepted common name for this taxon, "Durand oak." ''Quercus sinuata'', first described by Thomas Walter in '' Flora Caroliniana'' in 1788, claims no subspecies and only two varieties, var. ''sinuata'' and var. ''breviloba''.

Etymology

''Quercus sinuata'' var. ''sinuata'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''quercus'', "oak" + ''sinuata,'' species epithet from nominative feminine singular of Latin ''sinuatus','' participle of ''sinuo'', "to bend or bow out in curves" + var. (variety or ''varietas'') ''sinuata'', to distinguish this taxon from the generally more shallowly lobed variety of this species, var. ''breviloba'') is an infraspecific

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

inspired by the wavy leaf margins characteristic of the taxon. The common English word "oak," designating a shrub or tree of the genus ''Quercus'', descends from the Proto-Germanic ''*eiks'' through the Old English ''ac'', "oak tree," and the Middle English ''oke''. "Durand" honors Philadelphia botanist Elias Durand.

Distribution

The Durand oak grows in low, wet areas of

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and

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in the southern

National champion

The largest known Durand oak in the United States appeared on the National Register of Champion Trees in 2020. Located in Greene County, Alabama, the national champion specimen of ''Quercus sinuata'' var. ''sinuata'' was nominated in 2020 by Steve Gardiner and crowned on September 27, 2020, when it was last measured. By that time, the champion tree had attained a trunk circumference of , a height of and a crown spread of . The

formula for assigning point scores to nominated trees, Trunk Circumference (in inches) + Height (in feet) + Average Crown Spread (in feet), resulted in an overall score of 294 points.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q24692243 sinuata var. sinuata