Quercus rugosa aka Netleaf Oak

Quercus rugosa is an evergreen oak native to North America. It belongs to the beech family, Fagaceae. The RHS also lists the name Quercus reticulata as a synonym. This oak is not native to Britain or Ireland. Its form ranges from a shrub to a small tree. Virginia Tech gives a maximum height of about 30 feet [9.1 metres]. Many plants remain shrubs rather than reaching that height. Tree forms have a short trunk and a rounded, spreading crown.

The leaves grow in an alternate pattern along the twigs. Each leaf is simple, rather than split into leaflets. Leaves measure about 0.17–0.33 feet [0.05–0.10 metres] long. They widen toward the tip, giving them an obovate shape. Teeth tend to occur near the outer end. The base often has a heart shape. The blade curves outward, with veins sunk into its upper surface. This gives the two leaf surfaces quite different textures. The upper side is glossy green. Below, yellow-green fuzz covers the surface, and the veins stand out. The foliage stays on the plant through the year.

Young bark is gray and thin, with small lenticels. As it ages, cracks divide the bark into scaly ridges. The light brown twigs also carry a covering of fuzz. Rounded, reddish-brown buds form clusters at the twig tips. Male and female flowers grow on the same plant. The male flowers hang in long, yellow-green catkins. The much smaller female flowers form spikes in the leaf axils. Both appear as the leaves emerge. The supplied account ties flowering to leaf growth, without naming a month.

The fruit is an oblong acorn on a long stalk. Each nut measures about 0.04–0.08 feet [0.013–0.025 metres] long. Its bowl-shaped cup has a warty surface. That cup encloses about one-third of the nut. The stalk measures about 0.08–0.25 feet [0.025–0.076 metres] long. Acorns mature within one growing season and ripen in early fall. The evergreen crown, textured leaves, and long-stalked acorns help identify this oak. The supplied sources do not establish garden soil or water needs. They also give no species-level guidance on hardiness, pests, edibility, or toxicity.