3a. var. ozarkensis (Ashe) G.E. Tucker (Ozark chinquapin, Ozark chestnut)

Castanea ozarkensis Ashe

Pl. 413 d–g

Bark brownish, moderately to deeply furrowed. Twigs with inconspicuous glands or short gland-tipped hairs, sometimes also a few long spreading hairs. Petioles (6–)9–19 mm long, moderately to densely pubescent with inconspicuous, sessile glands or short gland-tipped hairs, sometimes also a few long spreading hairs. Leaf blades 14–21 cm long, 5.5–9.0 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate, short-tapered at the tip, the marginal teeth (2–)3–9 mm long, straight or curved, the secondary veins 15–23 on each side of the midvein, the midvein with inconspicuous, sessile glands or short glandular hairs, sometimes also a few long spreading hairs, the undersurface also sparsely to densely hairy between the veins. Cupules 4–13 per spike, 1.5–2.0 cm wide at fruiting (excluding spines), the spines 9–13 mm long. 2n=24. May–June.

Uncommon in southernmost Missouri (Missouri and Oklahoma south to Louisiana and Alabama, mostly extirpated outside the Ozarks). Mesic to dry upland forests; fencerows and roadsides; often on acidic substrates.

Leaves on young stump sprouts may be very sparsely pubescent, and they are sometimes mistaken for C. dentata. Juvenile var. ozarkensis may be distinguished by the hairy leaf margins and the presence of hairs on the minor veins (hairs are very sparse and confined to the midrib and secondary veins in sprout leaves of C. dentata).