Quercus macrocarpa × turbinella ∙ Bur/Sonoran Scrub Oak

Latin Name: Quercus macrocarpa × turbinella
Common Name: Bur/Sonoran Scrub Oak

 

^{Quercus macrocarpa range map.                    Quercus turbinella range map.}

Cultivar: Man-made cross, unnamed.
Family: Fagaceae
Division: White
Native range:
Introduced:
Sun/Shade:
Height × Width: varied; 35' × 35'
Zones:

Flower: catkins

Leaves: Widely varied, dependent on parents. Dark green above, paler beneath

Fruit: Acorn, varied, dependent on parents

Buds:

Bark:

Notes: A man-made hybrid with the toughness of both species bred by Prof. Walter P. Cottam as part of his famous oak breeding program during the 1950s and 60s.

How did the Maxwell Arboretum and other specimens of Quercus macrocarpa × turbinella on East Campus find their way to us? 

They were planted by Agronomy and Horticulture Prof. Kim Todd and her students as part of "150 for 150," 150 trees planted in 2019, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Univeristy of Nebraska.

Todd got the trees from Heather and Brian Byers, owners of Great Plains Nursery near Weston, NE, who grew the trees from acorns collected in western Nebraska on land owned by Galen Wittrock (SPNRD). Wittrock obtained his tree around 1990 from Kenneth Asmus, founder and owner of Oikos Tree Crops in Kalamazoo, Michigan, whose stock came from the original Cottam hybrids. (See Oak Hybridization at the University of Utah. Cottam, Walter P., John M. Tucker, and Frank S. Santamour, Jr. State Arboretum of Utah, Publication No. 1. 1982.)

Where to find Quercus macrocarpa × turbinella in Maxwell Arboretum: