''Quercus iltisii'' is a species of oak tree native to western Mexico, where it is found in a small portion of
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
''Quercus iltisii'' is an evergreen tree up to tall, with a trunk sometimes as much as in diameter. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are thin, flat, narrowly lance-shaped, hairless on the upper surface but hairy on the underside, up to long.
Range and habitat
''Quercus iltisii'' is native to the Pacific slope of the coastal mountains of western Jalisco and northern Colima states, which are considered either the westernmost portion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt or the northwesternmost
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 Transv ...
. The species has an estimated
area of occupancy
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...
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 c ...
s (also known as montane mesophytic forests) at higher elevations. It is fairly common across its limited range. Associated tree species include '' Quercus aristata,
Quercus castanea
''Quercus castanea'' is a species of oak tree. It is widespread across much of Mexico, from Sonora to Chiapas, and in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.Quercus elliptica,
Quercus glaucescens
''Quercus glaucescens'' is a species of oak endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a p ...
Pinus jaliscana
''Pinus jaliscana'', the Jalisco pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is endemic to southwestern Mexico, native to the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre del Sur within western Jalisco state. It is threatened by habitat loss ...
,
Pinus douglasiana
''Pinus douglasiana'' is a species of evergreen conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is found only in Mexico.
A common name is Douglas pine, but that name is often applied to the more widespread species ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' which is also know ...
,
Clethra rosei
''Clethra'' is a genus of flowering shrubs or small trees described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753.Magnolia iltisiana'', and '' Carpinus tropicalis''. It is a common canopy tree the cloud forests above El Durazno from 950 to 1,200 meters elevation in the southern Sierra de Manantlán.
Conservation
''Quercus iltisii'' is threatened with habitat loss from deforestation. Much of its lower montane pine–oak and cloud forest habitats have been deforested for livestock pasture, agriculture including coffee and maize, timber harvesting including illegal logging, mining, road building, and urbanization. Its conservation status is assessed as near-threatened. A portion of its range is protected in Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve.