It is native to the mountains of eastern and southern Mexico, as well as Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in northern Central America.

[1][3][4][5] Quercus xalapensis is a large tree with a trunk 40–80 centimetres (16–31 inches) in diameter.

[6][7] Quercus xalapensis is native to the mountains of eastern and southern Mexico and northern Central America.

Young trees grow in forest clearings and can be planted in abandoned pastures.

Associated plants include ephipytic orchids and bromeliads and the trees Carya ovata, Persea liebmannii, Quercus muehlenbergii, Quercus polymorpha, and Pinus pseudostrobus.