Quercus cornelius-mulleri
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Muller's oak
| image = Muller oak (Quercus cornelius-mulleri); Barker Dam Trail.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = G4
| status2_system = TNC
| genus = Quercus
| display_parents = 2
| parent = Quercus sect. Quercus
| species = cornelius-mulleri
| authority = Nixon & K.P.Steele
}}
File:Quercus cornelius-mulleri acorns..jpg
Quercus cornelius-mulleri is a North American species of oak known by the common name Muller oak, or Muller's oak. It was described to science in 1981 when it was segregated from the Quercus dumosa complex and found to warrant species status of its own.Nixon, K. C. and K. P. Steele. (1981). A new species of Quercus (Fagacaeae) from Southern California. Madroño 28 210.{{ThePlantList |id=kew-172316 |taxon=Quercus cornelius-mulleri |authority=Nixon & K.P.Steele |access-date=27 December 2017}}{{IPNI |id=215727-2 |taxon=Quercus cornelius-mulleri |authority=Nixon & K.P.Steele |access-date=27 December 2017}} It was named after ecologist Cornelius Herman Muller. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in chaparral, oak woodlands, and other habitat in foothills and mountains. It can most easily be observed in Joshua Tree National Park and in the woodlands along the western margins of the Colorado Desert in San Diego County, California.Nixon, K. C. (2002). [http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/proceed/nixon.pdf The Oak Biodiversity of California and Adjacent Regions.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619092652/http://danr.ucop.edu/ihrmp/proceed/nixon.pdf |date=June 19, 2010 }} US Forest Service Gen. Tech. Report{{Calflora|Quercus cornelius-mulleri |id=6989}}
Description
Quercus cornelius-mulleri is a bushy shrub not exceeding 3 meters (10 feet) in height. It is densely branched, its tangled twigs gray, brown, or yellowish, fuzzy when new and becoming scaly with age.
The evergreen leaves are leathery and thick. They are bicolored: dull gray or yellow-green and faintly hairy on the upper surfaces, and white and quite woolly on the undersides. The wool on the undersides of the leaves is made up of star-shaped leaf hairs that are fused into microscopic plates. The leaf blades are oval with smooth or toothed edges, and measure {{Convert|2.5 to 3.5|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}} in length.{{eFloras|1|233501020|Quercus cornelius-mulleri |family=Fagaceae |first=Kevin C. |last=Nixon}}
The fruit is an acorn with a cap up to {{Convert|2|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} wide covered in light-colored scales and a cylindrical, round-ended nut up to {{Convert|3|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Jepson Manual |id=4316,4326,4334 |link=1}}
- [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=QUCO7 United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile: Quercus cornelius-mulleri]
- {{CalPhotos|Quercus|cornelius}}
- [http://www.tropicos.org/Image/58954 photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in California in San Diego County in 1980]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2710363}}
Category:Flora of Baja California
Category:Flora of the California desert regions
Category:Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Category:Natural history of the Mojave Desert
Category:Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges
Category:Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
Category:Plants described in 1981
{{Quercus-stub}}