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Scientific: Quercus buckleyi
Common: Texas oak, Texas red oak, Buckley's oak
Family: Fagaceae
Origin: South central Texas into eastern and north central Oklahoma in rocky areas with alkaline soil pH such as the Edwards Plateau region.

Pronounciation: QUER-cus BUCK-lee-ii

Hardiness zones
Sunset
2-3, 6-8, 10-13
USDA 6-11

Landscape Use: Shade tree for moist, mesic and oasis landscape design themes, green parks and common areas, accent, screen, best for high desert landscapes, but does well in lower desert locations if given ample water.

Form & Character: Upright, open, and stiff, arborescent, arid but not desert dry.

Growth Habit: Deciduous, woody, broadleaf perennial tree, slow growth rate when young, moderate growth rate when maturing, to 25- to 40-feet tall with somehat equal to greater spread, stiffly branched.

Foliage/Texture: Leaves are alternate, elliptical or obovate, 2- to 5-inches long and wide, deeply divided into 5 to 9 (usually 7) lobes which are usually broadest toward the tip and end in several bristle-tipped teeth or points, shiny dark green above, pale green with tufts of hairs in vein axils below, turning brown or red in fall; medium coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Fruits are acorns maturing in the second year, egg-shaped, 1/2-inch long and wide with a more or less shallow cup covering 1/3 to 1/2 of the acorn.

Seasonal Color: None because fall color of Texas oak in Phoenix is...well....not very colorful. In higher elevation landscapes high desert and grassland systems in Arizona, Texas red oak will give an consistent orange to dark red fall color.

Temperature: Struggles in high heat of summer when temperatures exceed 110oF, but is cold hardy.

Light: Full sun

Soil: Texas red oak actually prefers a somewhat alkaline soil.

Watering: Regular, deep and infrequent except early summer before the onset of the monsoon when regular irrigations are needed. Texas red oak thrives in lower desert landscapes that are flood irrigated.

Pruning: Very little needed except to give shape and increase canopy base height.

Propagation: Seed, cold stratification needed.

Disease and Pests: None

Additional comments: Usually deciduous oaks struggle mightily in low desert high heat locations, but Texas oaks grow 'fairly well' in Phoenix landscapes within mesic or oasis landscape design themes. It grows better managed landscapes of higher elevation Arizona upland communities such as Prescott and Payson. The bottom line for Phoenix oak affectionados? Don't get too excited about Texas oak (unless you have flood irrigation) as it will never grow as large or live as long in Phoenix as it does in northern Arizona (or even Tucson for that matter) or as big like the big deciduous oaks in the eastern United States.

Taxonomic tidbits: There are approximately 600 species of Quercus worldwide. The species name buckleyi honors American geologist and botanist S. B. Buckley.