Quercus welshii, the wavy leaf oak, shinnery oak, or Tucker oak, is a North American species of shrub in the (beech family) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.[3]: 143
Quercus welshii is a deciduous shrub 2 to 6 feet (0.61 to 1.83 meters) tall.[3]: 143
The plant has an elaborate root system, anchoring it in sandy soils and helping stabilize soils in sandy desert scrub communities.[3]: 143
The leaves are elliptical or lance-shaped with 6–10 lobes along the margins and pointed tips, sometimes with lobes and teeth.[3]: 143
The leaves are up to 1⁄2 to 2 in (1.3 to 5.1 cm) long with dense hairs on both sides, becoming smooth with age.[3]: 143
Quercus welshii blooms from March to June.[3]: 143
Male and female flowers are in separate hanging clusters.[3]: 143
Acorns are 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in (13 to 19 millimeters) long.[3]: 143
The species was first described by Stanley Larson Welsh in 1986 as Quercus havardii var. tuckeri. It was raised to a full species by R.A. Denham in 2003 using the replacement name Quercus welshii,[4] named after Welsh,[3]: 143 as the name Quercus tuckeri had already been used for a fossil species.[5] Quercus welshii has been included within Quercus havardii, but both morphological and molecular evidence suggests that it is distinct.[6] Quercus welshii is not included in a 2017 list of Quercus species by subgenus and section, but Quercus havardii is placed in Quercus sect. Quercus.[7]
Quercus welshii can be found in sand desert shrub communities, and sandy soils of blackbrush scrub and pinyon–juniper woodland communities in Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico.[3]: 143 [8]
Quercus welshii, the wavy leaf oak, shinnery oak, or Tucker oak, is a North American species of shrub in the (beech family) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.: 143
