''Quercus affinis'' is a species of
oak native only to Mexico, mostly to the
Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests.
Description
Quercus affinis is a medium-sized evergreen tree which grows up to 16 or 20 meters tall.
[ The leaves are dark green and glossy with toothed edges. Young leaves are sometimes flushed bronze. Trees produce flowers and catkins in the spring, which by autumn mature into small, rounded acorns up to 1.5cm long.]
Range and habitat
''Quercus affinis'' ranges through the mountains of eastern Mexico, between 1200 and 2600 meters elevation. Its range includes the Sierra Madre Oriental
The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...
of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, and Veracruz states, the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...
of Veracruz and Puebla, and the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca
The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz.
Geography
The mountain range begins at Pico de Orizaba, and extends in a southeas ...
of Puebla and Oaxaca, with some outlying populations in the Sierra Madre del Sur
The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range in southern Mexico, extending from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca.
Geography
The Sierra Madre del Sur joins with the Eje Volcánico Trans ...
of Guerrero.[
''Quercus affinis'' is typically found in ]cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...
, frequently associated with ''Liquidambar styraciflua
American sweetgum (''Liquidambar styraciflua''), also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus '' Liquidambar'' native to warm temp ...
''. It also found in oak forests, pine–oak forests, and pine forests. It favors shallow karstic limestone soils with acid pH.[
]
Conservation
The pine–oak forests of Mexico have been extensively logged for timber, firewood, and charcoal. Other threats include habitat loss from forest clearing for cattle pasture and agriculture.[
Despite logging and loss of habitat across its range, its population is considered stable.][
]
Cultivation
It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...
's Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15336265
affinis ''Species affinis'' (commonly abbreviated to: ''sp.'', ''aff.'', or ''affin.'') is taxonomic terminology in zoology and botany. In open nomenclature it indicates that available material or evidence suggests that the proposed species is related t ...
Endemic oaks of Mexico
Flora of Central Mexico
Flora of Northwestern Mexico
Flora of Southwestern Mexico
Flora of Veracruz
Plants described in 1837
Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental
Flora of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca
Cloud forest flora of Mexico