The preferred habitat of these oaks is on dry limestone or igneous slopes at a height of 800-2000 meters (2660-6670 feet) above sea level, in chaparral and desert scrub savanna, usually in communities of oak, juniper and pinyon pine. In the chaparral formations in the Guadalupe Mountains, it is one of the dominant species and is found growing alongside true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) and desert ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii). Other plants associated with it include the Mohr shin oak (Quercus mohriana), oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma), cane cholla (Opuntia imbricata), purplefruited pricklypear (Opuntia phaeacantha), Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa), Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana), hairy tridens (Erioneuron pilosum) and plateau oak (Quercus fusiformis).