The genus Quercus (in the family Fagaceae) contains more than 450 species and a great number of subspecies and natural hybrids, the great majority of which are found naturally in North America (Mexico and the United States) and in Asia. In turn, this proliferation of species is represented by an enormous amount of morphological diversity
…in the leaves
…in the flowers and acorns
…in habit and size: from 30 cm tall to more than 50 m, from shrubs to clonal colonies.
Close cousins
The Arboretum has also developed collections of other species in the sister genera to Quercus, in the family Fagaceae (Castanea, Castanopsis, Chrysolepis, Fagus, Lithocarpus, Notholithocarpus), as well as collections of genera in a multitude of other families.