[citation needed] The Cuban oak was first described by Nuttall in 1842 as Quercus sagraeana based on the specimen collected by Ramón de la Sagra.

[4] The International Plant Names Index has corrected Nuttall's sagraeana to sagrana in accordance with this article.

sagrana,[8] hypothesizing that the Cuban oak population was a subspecies of Q. oleoides, originating from the Yucatán region of Mexico, but with introgression from Q. geminata coming from Florida.

[9] He considered the morphologically variable Cuban population a hybrid swarm that had stabilized and was distinct from the other live oaks of the Virentes.

[11] The species is considered Endangered by the IUCN Red List, due to habitat destruction and fragmentation of Cuban pine forests by mining, cattle grazing, urban development and fires in its endemic Pinar del Río Province.