''Quercus costaricensis'' is 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 ...

native to Central America (

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

). It is often found with '' Quercus copeyensis'' in the upper montane forests, to elevation.Costa Rica Institute of Technology: ''Quercus costaricensis''
The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are tough and leathery with a short petiole and toothed margin. Wind is the primary pollinator. Squirrels are their main seed predator but also their main disperser as they commonly lose their buried seeds.

References

External links

IUCN Red List: ''Quercus costaricensis''

photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Costa Rica in 1984
costaricensis Trees of Central America Flora of Costa Rica Flora of Honduras Flora of Panama Plants described in 1854 Flora of the Talamancan montane forests {{Quercus-stub