Quercus geminata

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Sand live oak
Quercus geminata (homeredwardprice).jpg
Acorns and leaves of a sand live oak in Florida
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus subg. Quercus
Section: Quercus sect. Virentes
Species:
Q. geminata
Binomial name
Quercus geminata
Synonyms [4]
List
  • Quercus virginiana var. maritima Sarg. Michx.
  • Quercus geminata var. grandifolia(Sarg.) Trel.
  • Quercus geminata var. reasoneriA.Camus
  • Quercus virginiana var. geminata(Small) Sarg.
  • Quercus virginiana f. grandifoliaSarg.
Sand live oak at sunrise Quercus geminata 002 (homeredwardprice).jpg
Sand live oak at sunrise

Quercus geminata, commonly called sand live oak, is an evergreen oak tree native to the coastal regions of the subtropical southeastern United States, along the Atlantic Coast from southern Florida northward to southeastern Virginia and along the Gulf Coast westward to southern Mississippi, [5] on seacoast dunes and on white sands in evergreen oak scrubs. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

Quercus geminata is placed in the southern live oaks section of the genus Quercus (section Virentes). [6]

Appearance

A small- to medium-sized tree, the sand live oak is scrubby and forms thickets. The bark is dark, thick, furrowed, and roughly ridged. The leaves are thick, leathery, and coarsely veined, with extremely revolute margins, giving them the appearance of inverted shallow bowls; their tops dark green, their bottoms dull gray and very tightly tomentose, and their petioles densely pubescent, they are simple and typically flat with bony-opaque margins, having a length of 2–12 centimetres (344+34 inches) and a width of 0.5–4 cm (141+12 in). The male flowers are green hanging catkins. The acorns are small, 12.5 cm, oblong-ellipsoid or ovoid, and are commonly born in pairs on peduncles of varying lengths. [2] [3]

The Florida Native Plant Society describes the plant as "Extremely drought tolerant" and a long-lived perennial. [7]

Description

In coastal Florida's evergreen oak scrub, the sand live oak is a ubiquitous and abundant species; the threatened Florida scrub-jay is found only in Florida scrub. [8] [9] Live oaks, having characteristics of the sand live oak and the southern live oak (Q. virginiana), grow further inland.

Hybrids

It is believed that these specimens are hybrids of Q. geminata and Q. virginiana. [2] While hybridization occurs between Q. geminata and Q. virginiana, the two species are genetically and morphologically distinct. [10] The Cuban oak, Q. sagrana , has been purported to be a hybrid [11] [12] between the sand live oak and Q. oleoides , but recent evidence suggests that the Cuban oak is a separate species without hybrid origin. [13]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Quercus virginiana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. Many very large and old specimens of live oak can be found today in the Deep South region of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live oak</span> Index of plants with the same common name

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<i>Quercus laevis</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus fusiformis</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus laurifolia</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus laurifolia is a medium-sized semi-evergreen oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the southeastern and south-central the United States.

Scrub oak is a common name for several species of small, shrubby oaks. It may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammock (ecology)</span> Type of ecosystem in the southeastern United States

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<i>Quercus chrysolepis</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus chrysolepis, commonly termed canyon live oak, canyon oak, golden cup oak or maul oak, is a North American species of evergreen oak that is found in Mexico and in the western United States, notably in the California Coast Ranges. This tree is often found near creeks and drainage swales growing in moist cool microhabitats. Its leaves are a glossy dark green on the upper surface with prominent spines; a further identification arises from the leaves of canyon live oak being geometrically flat.

<i>Quercus arkansana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus arkansana, the Arkansas oak, is a species of oak tree. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is threatened by use of its habitat for pine plantations, clearing of land, and diebacks that may be caused by drought.

<i>Quercus alnifolia</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus hemisphaerica</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus sagrana</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus myrtifolia</i> Species of oak tree

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Bassettia pallida is a species of gall wasp found in the Southern United States. This species was described by American entomologist William Harris Ashmead in 1896. B. pallida reproduces asexually in galls it induces on oak trees. The parasite Euderus set, a eulophid wasp, has B. pallida as a host and manipulates its behavior.

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References

  1. Kenny, L.; Wenzell, K. (2015). "Quercus geminata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T194134A2302219. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T194134A2302219.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kurz, Herman; Godfrey, Robert K. (1962), Trees of Northern Florida, Gainesville, Florida, US: University Press of Florida, pp. 75–77, ISBN   978-0-8130-0666-6
  3. 1 2 Nelson, Gil (1994), The Trees of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide, Sarasota, Florida, US: Pineapple Press, p. 86,185,186,196, ISBN   978-1-56164-055-3
  4. "Quercus geminata Small", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families , Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew via The Plant List Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  5. "FloriData — Quercus geminata", Retrieved 2011-07-06
  6. Denk, Thomas; Grimm, Guido W.; Manos, Paul S.; Deng, Min & Hipp, Andrew L. (2017). "Appendix 2.1: An updated infrageneric classification of the oaks" (xls). figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.5547622.v1 . Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  7. "Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS)". www.fnps.org. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  8. "Scrub", archived from the original on June 1, 2011, retrieved July 8, 2011 "The University of Florida School of Forest Resources & Conservation Scrub", Retrieved 2011-07-08
  9. "An Ecological Overview Of Scrub Habitat And Florida Scrub-Jays In Brevard County", Retrieved 2011-07-08
  10. Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Pahlich, Anette (2009), "Molecular, morphological and ecological niche differentiation of sympatric sister oak species, Quercus virginiana and Q. geminata (Fagaceae)", American Journal of Botany, 96 (9): 1690–1702, doi: 10.3732/ajb.0800315 , PMID   21622355
  11. Nixon, Kevin C. (1997), "Quercus geminata", in Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.), Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA), vol. 3, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 2011-07-06 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA
  12. Muller, Cornelius H. (1955), "The origin of Quercus on Cuba", Revista de la Sociedad Cubana de Botánica, 7: 41–47
  13. Gugger, Paul F.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine (2012), "Molecular and morphological support for a Florida origin of the Cuban oak", Journal of Biogeography, 40 (4): 632–645, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02610.x