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Plant Profile

Chisos Mountains Oak (Quercus tardifolia)

Quercus tardifolia leaves.

Photo Credit: Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories and Arboretum

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Fagaceae
State: TX
Nature Serve ID: 129171
Lifeform: Tree
Categories of Interest: Oaks
Date Inducted in National Collection: 08/22/2022

Description:

In May 2022, researchers led by The Morton Arboretum and the USBG were thrilled to find a lone specimen of Quercus tardifolia, an oak previously thought to be extinct. The 30-feet-tall tree was found within Big Bend National Park in Texas, though it is in poor condition and in immediate need of conservation. First described in the 1930s, the species was believed to have gone extinct in 2011.Q. tardifolia is considered one of – if not the – rarest oaks in the world. The researchers who found the Q. tardifolia tree are concerned that it is not producing acorns. Other methods of propagation, including grafting, are being pursued to preserve the oak’s future.

Where is Chisos Mountains Oak (Quercus tardifolia) located in the wild?

States & Provinces:

Chisos Mountains Oak can be found in Texas

Which CPC Partners conserve Chisos Mountains Oak (Quercus tardifolia)?

The Morton Arboretum

Not Sponsored

Assigned 09/20/22

United States Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 09/20/22

San Antonio Botanical Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 10/04/22

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Tina Stanley

09/20/2022

Quercus tardifolia is of high conservation priority at many Participating Institutions. While not yet represented in collection, the species is being monitored with collection and conservation efforts in progress.