Hinckley's Oak

(Quercus hinckleyi)

Date of Listing: Endangered, 1993

© Photo courtesy Paul M. Montgomery

Hinckley's oak is a dwarf, evergreen, multi-branched shrub which forms thickets about 4 feet tall. It has small waxy, gray-green leaves less than half an inch long. The leaves are round or oval with wavy margins and coarse spiny teeth. Evidence from fossil pack rat middens indicates that Hinckley's oak was more common 10,000 years ago when the climate of west Texas was more mesic (wet).

Note: Special thanks to the photographers for providing images of Texas endangered and threatened plants. All rights to these images are reserved. Educational use permitted.

Reasons for the decline of this species include limited distribution, climate change, and low reproduction.

Size:

Evergreen shrub up to 4 feet in height .

Habitat (where it lives):

Dry, rocky limestone slopes below 5,000 feet in elevation in desert scrub communities of west Texas.

Range (where found in Texas):

Trans-Pecos of west Texas, Brewster and Presidio Counties. Most of the known populations occur in Texas Parks and Wildlife's Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Reproduction:

Fall acorns are solitary or paired, oval, brown, and about 0.5 inch wide.

Population Numbers:

One population currently known from the United States.