Plateau oak or Escarpment live oak is a thicket-forming shrub or large, spreading tree that is nearly identical in appearance to, and considered much hardier than, Q. virginiana. A short, tapering trunk supports picturesquely gnarled branches and limbs that over time will spread horizontally a great distance from the main trunk. It can reach a height of 20-40 ft. Leaves are semi-evergreen, firm textured, ovate to elliptic, 1 to 3 inches long; usually without lobes except on young plants and rootsprouts, then with pointed lobes. The leaves are generally slightly smaller than those of Q. virginiana. Acorns 3/4 to 1 inch long, rather elongate. Unlike Coastal live oak, acorns are spindle-shaped (fusiform), narrowed at the base.Ranging from the Glass Mountains and Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma south through the center of Texas to the mountains of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon in Mexico, Quercus fusiformis is the common live oak used in landscaping and found in the wild in central Texas. It is more drought-tolerant and cold-hardy than Q. virginiana, which it is sometimes considered a variety of. Like Q. virginiana, its magnificent, stately form has endeared it to generations of residents and it remains popular to this day. Also like Q. virginiana, it is susceptible to oak wilt and live oak decline when stressed by drought, so care must be taken to protect it from injury both aboveground and below ground to prevent infection. The largest known Texas live oak grows in Real County, Texas.Appearing to be evergreen, this species is tardily deciduous, shedding the previous year’s leaves in late-February or March as new leaves emerge.