Netleaf Oak
Quercus rugosa

Family: Fagaceae

OTHER NAMES
Spanish: encino blanco, encino, encino de asta

CHARACTERISTICS
Mostly evergreen to deciduous (in cold places) tree, growing 15-30’ tall and wide. Spring blooming, followed by acorns that appear in late summer or fall.

LANDSCAPE USE
Small to medium shade tree.

GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED

SUN full to part sun in the upper elevations, in the low desert give this plant shade in the afternoon.
WATER moderate
SOIL not picky, but well-drained
HARDINESS hardy to about 5°F
BASIN mid zone
CONTAINER does moderately well in containers but will not attain full size
NUTRITION low
MAINTENANCE very little

Photo by Bodo Nuñez Oberg, iNaturalist
Quercus rugosa on SEINET

ECOLOGY
Flowers in spring with inconspicuous, wind-pollinated flowers. Acorns ripen in fall. Oaks are wildlife keystone species hosting a mind-boggling number of insects. This brings in a vast array of substrate-insectivorous birds (birds that spend their time on these trees eating the insects). The acorns are important food for many birds and mammals (and some species eaten by people). The trees also provide important habitat for many birds and mammals. Almost all the oaks host a multitude of moths and butterflies including the following species:

Mexican-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius moctezuma)

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia)

Short-tailed Skipper (Zestusa dorus)

Arizona Dull Firetip (Apyrrothrix araxes ssp. arizonae)

Burgess’s Sleepy Duskywing (Erynnis brizo ssp. burgessi)

Clitus Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis ssp. clitus)

Meridian duskywing (Erynnis meridianus ssp. meridianus)

Scudder's Duskywing (Erynnis scudderi)

Mournful Duskywing (Erynnis tristis)

Oaks also host a diversity of insects that cause growths called “galls”. Galls are protective nests for the larvae of various insects (mostly tiny stingless wasps) to develop protected from pests. The have a diversity of shapes from giant ball-like growths, to small growths, on leaves or young stems. These galls do not harm healthy trees. Emory oaks that grow in riparian zones and get really tall are a favorite nesting site for owls and other raptors.

Oaks attract numerous other insects which, in turn, attracts canopy-gleaning birds.

ETHNOBOTANY
Acorns are eaten after much leaching. Wood is useful for many practical purposes.

NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Found in oak and conifer forests, often on wooded slopes from 5,000-9,000’ in the southern portions of Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern tip of Texas, south into southern Mexico.

TAXONOMY AND NAME
This plant is in the family Fagaceae, the beech family. There are 627 accepted species in the genus Quercus widely distributed in the northern hemisphere.
The genus "Quercus" is from Latin, meaning "oak" while rugosa means wrinkled referring to the leaves.