Tree Description:
A medium-sized tree to 40 or more feet tall and a stout trunk to 2 feet in diameter, with a dense crown of distinctly bluish foliage that stands out from the junipers and live oaks with which it is assoc.
Range/Site Description:
Limestone soils of the Edwards Plateau, especially in canyons or on protected slopes. Also in isloated areas of Terrell and Brewster counties.
Leaf:
Simple, alternate on the twigs, 2" to 5" long and up to 2" wide, leathery, variably lobed with the lobes irregular and often shallow; leaves blue-gray on top and paler below.
Flower:
Male and female flowers borne in spring on the same tree, the male flowers on catkins about 2.5" long, the female flowers inconspicuous, about 0.5" long.
Fruit:
An acorn, maturing in one year, in clusters of 1 to 3, about 0.75" long, ovoid, enclosed one-quarter to one-half its length by the saucer-shaped cup.
Bark:
Gray, thick, breaking into narrow plates and fissures on older trunks.
Wood:
Used locally for fuelwood and posts; increasingly available in the nursery trade for landscape plantings.
Similar Species:
White shin oak (Quercus sinuata var. breviloba) is a small, twisted tree of limestone escarpments in Central Texas with scaly bark.
Interesting Facts:
