Also called Arizona oak

Description Medium-sized evergreen tree 30 to 60 feet or more in height and 2 to 3 feet in trunk diameter, with irregular spreading crown of stout branches. Leaves obovate or oblong, 1 to 3 inches long, short-pointed or rounded at apex, heart-shaped or rounded at base, edges slightly wavy-lobed and toothed toward apex, thick and stiff, above dull blue-green and nearly hairless and with veins sunken, beneath paler and densely hairy and with prominent raised veins, shedding gradually in spring as the new leaves unfold. Acorn 3/4 to 1 inch long, with shallow cup. Bark fissured into thick plates, light gray or whitish. Wood hard, heavy, dark brown.

Distribution Common and characteristic tree of the oak woodland, in foothills, mountains, and canyons, 5,000 to 7,600 feet elevation. New Mexico : mountains in southern part, from White, Capitan, and Organ Mountains westward to Mogollón Mountains and southwest corner. Arizona : mountains in southeastern and central parts, west to Santa Cruz and Pima Counties and northwest to Gila and Yavapai Counties. Also in northern Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora). Arizona white oak is probably the largest of the southwestern oaks, reaching its greatest size in canyons and other moist sites.