Quercus dumosa

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Coastal sage scrub oak
Quercus dumosa.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Quercus subg. Quercus
Section: Quercus sect. Quercus
Species:
Q. dumosa
Binomial name
Quercus dumosa

Quercus dumosa is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae, belonging to the white oak section of the oak genus (Quercus). [2] This tree goes by the common names coastal sage scrub oak [3] and Nuttall's scrub oak. [4]

Contents

Description

Quercus dumosa is an evergreen shrub growing 1 to 3 metres (40–120 inches or 3–10 feet) tall from a large, deep root network. The leaves have spiny or toothed edges. The fruit is an acorn up to 1.5 centimetres (5⁄8 in) wide. Some individuals produce large crops of acorns, and some produce very few fruits. The acorns are dispersed by gravity as they fall from the tree, and by animals that pick them up, such as squirrels and jays. Animals eat them immediately or cache them for later. The acorns tend to germinate easily. Reproduction via seed generally occurs only in very moist years. [4] [5]

Taxonomy

The name Quercus dumosa was formerly widely applied to nearly all the scrub oaks of the white oak group of California and Baja California. The concept of this species has gradually narrowed as phylogenetic research and taxonomic treatments have segregated out several species. Oaks previously placed under Q. dumosa include: [5]

However, the majority of oaks referred to as Quercus dumosa in the past are now regarded as Quercus berberidifolia. The current concept of Q. dumosa is limited to the populations of scraggly shrub oaks with short petioles, cordate leaf bases, erect curly trichomes on the abaxial leaf surface, and narrow, acute acorns which almost always occur at low elevations and very often within sight of the ocean. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Quercus dumosa is found in California and Baja California. [6] [7] In Baja California, it is found from the Mexico–United States border south to the Colonet peninsula. [8] It is threatened by habitat loss. [1] The species lends its name to the plant community called the "Quercus dumosa chaparral", in which Coastal sage scrub oak and toyon often co-dominate in chaparral. [9]

Ecology

Quercus dumosa grows primarily in sandy soils such as sandstone near the coast. Its habitat is often chaparral. This oak sprouts vigorously from its stump and root crown after wildfire and develops a large canopy within a few years after a fire event. It sometimes co-dominates with Ceanothus species as early as four years after a fire. This oak also does well in the absence of fire. [4]

Allergenicity

The species is a severe allergen, with pollination generally occurring in spring. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Chaparral Shrubland plant community in western North America

Chaparral is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires. Chaparral features summer-drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found often on drier, southern facing slopes within the chaparral biome. Three other closely related chaparral shrubland systems occur in central Arizona, western Texas, and along the eastern side of central Mexico's mountain chains (mexical), all having summer rains in contrast to the Mediterranean climate of other chaparral formations. Chaparral comprises 9% of California's wildland vegetation and contains 20% of its plant species. The name comes from the Spanish word chaparro, which translates to "place of the scrub oak".

<i>Pseudotsuga macrocarpa</i> Species of conifer

Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, commonly called the bigcone spruce or bigcone Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer native to the mountains of southern California. It is notable for having the largest cones in the genus Pseudotsuga, hence the name.

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

Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak, also known as Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section, native to western North America. Although genetically separated from them for more than 20 million years, its leaves are remarkably similar in appearance to several other members of the red oak section including the red oak and the black oak found in eastern and central North America.

<i>Quercus agrifolia</i> Evergreen oak tree native to California

Quercus agrifolia, the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is generally a medium-sized tree. It grows west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from Mendocino County, California, south to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is classified in the red oak section of oaks.

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

Quercus wislizeni, known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It generally occurs in foothills, being most abundant in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, but also widespread in the Pacific Coast Ranges—where since 1980 it has been known as a separate species Quercus parvula—and the San Gabriel Mountains. It was named for its collector, Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810–1889).

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

Quercus douglasii, known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. It is occasionally known as mountain oak and iron oak.

<i>Quercus tomentella</i> Species of tree

Quercus tomentella, the island oak, island live oak, or Channel Island oak, is an oak in the section Protobalanus. It is native to six islands: five of the Channel Islands of California and Guadalupe Island, part of Baja California.

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

Quercus engelmannii, the Engelmann oak or Pasadena oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section, native to southern California and northwestern Baja California, Mexico.

<i>Quercus berberidifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Fagaceae

Quercus berberidifolia, the California scrub oak, is a small evergreen or semi-evergreen shrubby oak in the white oak section of Quercus. It is a native of the scrubby hills of California, and is a common member of chaparral ecosystems.

<i>Baccharis pilularis</i> Species of shrub

Baccharis pilularis, called coyote brush, chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Mexico, most likely introduced.

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

Quercus durata, commonly known as leather oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The common name "leather oak" is derived from the leathery texture on the lop of its leaves. Taxonomically it is placed in the white oak group.

<i>Quercus × macdonaldii</i> Species of tree

Quercus × macdonaldii, formerly Quercus macdonaldii, with the common names MacDonald's oak and Macdonald oak, is a rare species of oak in the family Fagaceae.

<i>Tetracoccus dioicus</i> Species of flowering plant

Tetracoccus dioicus, known by the common names red shrubby-spurge and Parry's tetracoccus, is a species of flowering plant.

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

Quercus vacciniifolia, the huckleberry oak, is a member of the Protobalanus section of genus Quercus. It has evergreen foliage, short styles, very bitter acorns that mature in 18 months, and a woolly acorn shell interior.

<i>Quercus cornelius-mulleri</i> Species of tree

Quercus cornelius-mulleri is a North American species of oak known by the common name Muller oak, or Muller's oak. It was described to science in 1981 when it was segregated from the Quercus dumosa complex and found to warrant species status of its own. It was named after ecologist Cornelius Herman Muller. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in chaparral, oak woodlands, and other habitat in foothills and mountains. It can most easily be observed in Joshua Tree National Park and in the woodlands along the western margins of the Colorado Desert in San Diego County, California.

<i>Quercus john-tuckeri</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus john-tuckeri is a North American species of oak known by the common name Tucker oak, or Tucker's oak. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and oak woodlands of mountain slopes in the western Transverse Ranges, the southernmost Central Coast Ranges, and the margins of the Mojave Desert. The species is named after John M. Tucker, professor of botany (1947–1986) at the University of California at Davis, specialist in Quercus.

<i>Quercus turbinella</i> Species of plant

Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shrub oak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.

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

Quercus pacifica is a species of oak known by the common names island scrub oak, Channel Island scrub oak, and Pacific oak.

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

Quercus pungens, commonly known as the sandpaper oak or scrub oak, is a North American species evergreen or sub-evergreen shrub or small tree in the white oak group. There is one recognised variety, Quercus pungens var. vaseyana, the Vasey shin oak. Sandpaper oak hybridizes with gray oak in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas.

Quercus intricata, common name dwarf oak, intricate oak or Coahuila scrub oak, is a plant species native to northern Mexico and western Texas.

References

  1. 1 2 Beckman, E. (2017). "Quercus dumosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T34662A2853964. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T34662A2853964.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Nixon, Kevin C.; Muller, Cornelius H. (1997). "Quercus sect. Quercus". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  3. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Quercus dumosa". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team.
  4. 1 2 3 Fryer, Janet L. (2012). "Quercus berberidifolia, Q. dumosa". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  5. 1 2 3 Nixon, Kevin C. (1997). "Quercus dumosa". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. ↑ "Quercus dumosa". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.
  7. ↑ SEINet, Southwestern biodiversity, Arizona chapter
  8. ↑ Rebman, J. P.; Gibson, J.; Rich, K. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). San Diego Society of Natural History. 45: 173.
  9. ↑ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Toyon: Heteromeles arbutifolia Archived September 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg.
  10. ↑ "Coastal Sage Scrub Oak (Quercus dumosa) Species Details and Allergy Info, Santa clara county, California".
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