Sand live oak | |
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Acorns and leaves of a sand live oak in Florida | |
Scientific classification | |
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] | |
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]
Quercus geminata is placed in the southern live oaks section of the genus Quercus (section Virentes). [6]
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 (3⁄4–4+3⁄4 inches) and a width of 0.5–4 cm (1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in). The male flowers are green hanging catkins. The acorns are small, 1–2.5 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]
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.
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]
Quercus marilandica, the blackjack oak, is a small oak, one of the red oak group Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the eastern and central United States.
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.
Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus Quercus that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks.
Quercus laevis, the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the southeastern United States. The name turkey oak derives from the resemblance of the leaves to a turkey's foot. A Turkish and southern European species Quercus cerris is also commonly referred to as Turkey oak, so Quercus laevis is sometimes referred to as American turkey oak to distinguish it from the European species.
Quercus fusiformis, commonly known as escarpment live oak, plateau live oak, plateau oak, or Texas live oak, is an evergreen or nearly evergreen tree. Its native range includes the Quartz Mountains and Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma, through Texas, to the Mexican states of Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo León.
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:
Hammock is a term used in the southeastern United States for stands of trees, usually hardwood, that form an ecological island in a contrasting ecosystem. Hammocks grow on elevated areas, often just a few inches high, surrounded by wetlands that are too wet to support them. The term hammock is also applied to stands of hardwood trees growing on slopes between wetlands and drier uplands supporting a mixed or coniferous forest. Types of hammocks found in the United States include tropical hardwood hammocks, temperate hardwood hammocks, and maritime or coastal hammocks. Hammocks are also often classified as hydric, mesic or xeric. The types are not exclusive, but often grade into each other.
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.
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.
Quercus alnifolia, commonly known as the golden oak, is an evergreen oak species of Cyprus. Its common English name refers to the golden coloured lower surface of its leaves. Quercus alnifolia belongs to the endemic flora of the island and it is confined to the igneous geological complex of the Troodos Mountains. In February 2006, the parliament of Cyprus selected the golden oak to be the country's national tree.
Quercus hemisphaerica is a species of oak native to the southeastern and south-central United States. It is in the red oak section of Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is often confused with and closely related to Quercus laurifolia, from which it differs in several key characteristics.
Quercus sagrana, also spelled Quercus sagraeana, the Cuban oak, is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to western Cuba in the Cuban pine forests ecoregion. It is the only oak native to the Caribbean.
The Southeastern conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River. It is also the southernmost instance of temperate coniferous forest within the Nearctic realm.
The Southern coastal plain oak dome and hammock is a forest type occurring in small patches in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. These forests consist of thick stands of evergreen oaks on shallow depressions or slight hills. They are distinct from their surrounding habitats, which are often woodlands dominated by longleaf pine.
Quercus myrtifolia, the myrtle oak, is a North American species of oak. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is often found in coastal areas on sandy soils.
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.
Quercus subgenus Quercus is one of the two subgenera into which the genus Quercus was divided in a 2017 classification. It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be called the New World clade or the high-latitude clade; most species are native to the Americas, the others being found in Eurasia and northernmost North Africa.
Quercus × harbisonii, commonly known as Harbison's oak and Harbison oak, is a rare hybrid species of oak in the family Fagaceae.