Small to medium tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall. Bark dark gray, smoothish, furrowed into ridges on lower trunk and older branches. Twigs slender, grayish or brownish, glabrous, ending in a cluster of small egg-shaped grayish or brownish buds. Leaves alternate, elliptical or obovate, 6-12 cm (2.4-4.8 in) long and 5-10 cm (2-4 in) wide,deeply divided into 5-9 (usually 7) lobes which are usually broadest toward the tip and end in several bristle-tipped teeth, shiny dark green above, pale green with tufts of hairs in vein axils below, turning brown or red in fall. Fruits are acorns maturing in the second year, egg-shaped, 12-18 mm (0.5-0.7 in) long and 8-14 mm (0.3-0.6 in) wide with a more or less shallow cup covering 1/3-1/2.This species was named for Samuel B. Buckley, botanist and state geologist of Texas. Quercus buckleyi leaves are similar to those of Q. texana, but the two species do not overlap in their distributions. This species should be considered a conservation concern. The largest known Buckley oak grows in Travis County, Texas.