Tree Description:
A medium or large tree to 50 feet tall with a trunk to 2 feet and a dense crown of gray-green foliage.
Range/Site Description:
Common on dry, gravelly soils throughout the mountains of West Texas.
Leaf:
Simple, alternate, evergreen, leathery, usually 1" to 2" long and 0.5" to 1" wide, highly variable but usually oblong or elliptical, entire but sometimes toothed towards the tip; gray-green and somewhat pubescent beneath. Typical leaves have a base slightly cordate, or "ear-lobed."
Flower:
Separate male and female flowers on the same tree. Male and female flowers borne on catkins about 1.5" long.
Fruit:
An acorn, maturing in one year, on a peduncle up to 1.25" long, 0.5" to 0.75" long, ovoid, one-third to one-half enclosed by the cup, slightly pubescent.
Bark:
Gray, with narrow ridges and furrows on older trees.
Wood:
Fuelwood and posts, locally.
Similar Species:
Mohr oak (Quercus mohriana) is a shrubby species of West Texas that often hybridizes with gray oak to produce intermediate forms.
Interesting Facts:
