Quercus oleoides, with Spanish common names encina or encino, is a Mesoamerican species of oak in the southern live oaks section of the genus Quercus (section Virentes). It grows in dry forests and pastureland of eastern and southern Mexico and much of Central America, from Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica north as far as the State of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico. Quercus oleoides is a slow-growing tree, reaching in height. Its pale gray leaves are evergreen, thick, hard, long, wide, oblong or elliptic. It flowers from December through May, with male catkins that are long, and female catkins that are long, containing one to six flowers, each about 7 mm long. Its wood is extremely heavy with intercrossed grains; the sapwood is white, and heartwood brown. References External links Arctos Collaborative Collection Management Solution, Taxonomy Details for Quercus oleoides var. sagraeana Plants of Viñales pictorial guide - Quercus oleoides subsp. sagraeana oleoides Trees of Central America Oaks of Mexico Plants described in 1830 Flora of the Central American pine–oak forests Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental Petén–Veracruz moist forests Veracruz moist forests