Gaps in Eastern US Oak Gall-Host Relationships - Southwest Texas addendum

An addendum on yesterdays post, this is mostly for @ericanewman not sure if you will be visiting Brewster County, Val Verde County or Mt. Livermore while you are working in W. Texas, but just in case you or anyone else are in those areas there are a bunch of oak rare species with almost totally undescribed gall fauna.

Quercus carmenensis
Chisos Mountains, Brewster County, TX
"Shrublands and woodlands on limestone"
Very rare, probably just a few trees/clumps.
No documented gall species.

Quercus depressipes
High elevation of the Davis Mountains, Jeff Davis County, TX
"Grassland and open wooded slopes"
Very rare.
No documented gall species.

Quercus graciliformis/canbyi
Chisos Mountains, rocky canyons with high water table, Brewster County, TX
"Dry rocky canyons of the Chisos Mountains"
Rare.
No documented gall species.

Quercus gravesi
TX
"Davis, Glass, and Chisos mountains; above 1200 m"
Fairly common compared to others on this list
1 documented gall species

Quercus hinckleyi
El Solitario and near Shafter, Presidio County, TX
"On dry desert slopes"
No documented gall species.

Quercus intricata
Brewster County, TX
"Open chaparral and pinyon-oak woodland, on dry, rocky, limestone slopes (in Mexico also on gypsophilous soils)"
No documented gall species.

Quercus polymorpha
Val Verde County TX
" Riparian forest gallery, margins of thorn scrub, dry tropical forest, lower margins of oak-pine woodland, and cloud forest"
Only one known native US population, along the Devil's River near Dolan Falls. Widely planted in TX as an ornamental, ornamental populations would be interesting to look for galls as well.
2 documented gall species.

Quercus pungens
AZ NM TX
"On dry limestone or igneous slopes, usually in oak, pinyon, and juniper woodlands, chaparral, and sometimes descending into desert vegetation"
6 documented gall species

Quercus robusta
Brewster County, TX
"Moist wooded canyons in Chisos Mountains"
No documented gall species.

Quercus tardifolia
Brewster County, TX
"Wooded arroyos"
Very rare and uncertain status as a species.
No documented gall species.

Here is a nice article on a few of these oak species;
https://www.internationaloaksociety.org/content/scouting-and-collecting-rare-oaks-trans-pecos-ex-situ-conservation-2016

This paper focusing on Mexican oak species found the following number of gall "morphotypes" (they did not ID to species) on the species listed above. Some of these morphotypes are probably IDed to speceis in the literature, but many others may not be described.
http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2007-42982017000300461
Q. gravesii - 4 morphotypes
Q. depressipes - 1 morphotype
Q. polymorpha - 2 morphotypes

Julkaistu marraskuu 9, 2021 04:12 IP. käyttäjältä calconey calconey

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I can't thank you enough for putting all this information together. This is fascinating and really remarkable how undersampled things are out here. To answer your question-- yes-- I have been to all of those counties; now it's time to go back with collection permits and a plan for finding the oaks. Thank you again.

Lähettänyt ericanewman yli 2 vuotta sitten

@joshuacde Thought about making a New Mexican post but most of the New Mexican oaks seem to be fairly well documented. I don't know if any of the New Mexico populations are accessible to you at all (and within your ability to travel) but Quercus pungens would be an interesting species for you to explore. There are only 8 species listed on gallformers and a number of them are unique (and have no pictures).. probably an opportunity to find some new stuff. Also interesting would be the isolated New Mexican populations of Quercus muehlenbergii, would be interesting to see if the galls on them match the set from out east or are different entirely.

Edit - cultivated Quercus polymorpha might be interesting as well, although it is pretty far from its native range. Looks like there is potential for it to be planted in Albequerque.

Lähettänyt calconey noin 2 vuotta sitten

It seems like both of those species you mentioned can be found near the same area, I would love to check it out. It's not really in my ability to travel far right now but hopefully soon!

Lähettänyt joshuacde noin 2 vuotta sitten

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