About Quercus obtusata Bonpl.
Quercus obtusata Bonpl. is an oak species that belongs to the white oak group (Quercus sect. Quercus). It is endemic to Mexico, where its distribution ranges from San Luis Potosí and Nayarit south to Oaxaca, at elevations between 620 and 2800 meters above sea level. It is a tree that can grow up to 20 metres (66 feet) tall, and its trunk can sometimes reach more than 60 centimetres (24 inches) in diameter. Its leaves are thick and leathery, growing up to 22 cm (8+3⁄4 in) long, with a wide ovate shape and 3–9 pairs of shallow rounded lobes or undulations. Quercus obtusata resembles Quercus potosina, which has smaller leaves that measure 3–10 x 2–6 cm. It also resembles Quercus rugosa, which has convex, strongly coriaceous leaves with revolute margins and a bullate epidermis. Finally, Quercus obtusata can be differentiated from Quercus laeta. Quercus laeta has a glaucous underside to its leaves, no masses of glandular secretions, and has none or rare glandular trichomes. Its leaves are also more oblong than oboval, and their margin is sometimes entire.
