Quercus lobata

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Quercus lobata
Valley Oak Mount Diablo.jpg
Valley Oak near Mount Diablo, with mistletoe
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. Quercus
Species:
Q. lobata
Binomial name
Quercus lobata
Quercus lobata range map 1.png
Natural range of Quercus lobata
Synonyms [3]
List
  • Quercus hindsianaBenth. ex Dippel
  • Quercus hindsiiBenth.
  • Quercus longiglandaTorr. & Frém.
  • Quercus lyrataSpreng.

Quercus lobata, commonly called the valley oak or roble, is the largest of the California oaks. It is endemic to the state, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou to San Diego counties. [4] Deciduous, it requires year-round groundwater, [5] [6] and may live up to 600 years. Its thick, ridged bark (resembling alligator hide) and deeply lobed leaves are characteristic, and assist in identification.

Contents

Description

The valley oak may surpass 30 meters (98 feet) in height, with a sturdy trunk possibly exceeding 3 m (10 ft) in diameter. The "Henley Oak", in Covelo, California, is the tallest known valley oak, at 47 m (153 ft). [7] [8]

The branches have an irregular, spreading and arching appearance. During autumn, the leaves turn a yellow to light orange color but become brown later in the season. In advancing age, the branches droop. The trees have pewter-colored rippled bark. [9]

Typically, the leaves are 5–10 centimeters (2–4 inches) long and are roundly and deeply lobed. The leaf width is approximately one half its length. Each leaf is matte green with an underneath pale green appearance; moreover, the leaf is covered with abundant soft fuzz, yielding an almost velvety feeling. When a fresh leaf is rubbed or broken, an aromatic scent is exuded, evoking a forest odor. The wood is a dull brown approaching yellow. [9] [10]

The acorns are medium to dark brown and range from 2 to 3 cm (3⁄4 to 1+1⁄4 in) in length. The caps have deep stippling and are found most often as singlets, but occasionally as doublets. The acorns ripen from October to November. [10] Viable acorns germinate in their first winter, and none remain by mid-winter.

Taxonomy

Valley oak is of the white oak evolutionary lineage, which is officially known as the subgenus Lepidobalanus. This subgenus comprises numerous oaks from California and elsewhere, which species share similar leaves, acorns, bark and wood pulp. Early settlers used a variety of common names for the valley oak including: white oak, bottom oak, swamp oak, water oak and mush oak. The Spaniards, because the tree looked like the white oaks in Europe, called the tree "roble".

The Concow tribe call the acorns lō-ē’ (Konkow language). [11]

Distribution and habitat

Valley oak tolerates cool wet winters and hot dry summers, but requires abundant water. It is most abundant in rich deep soils of valley floors below 600 meters (2000 feet) in elevation. Valley oak is found in dense riparian forests, open foothill woodlands and valley savannas. Commonly associated trees are coast live oak, interior live oak, blue oak, California black walnut, California sycamore and gray pine. [12]

The valley oak is widely distributed in: the California Central Valley; many smaller valleys such as the San Fernando Valley (original Spanish place-name from oak savannah), Conejo Valley, and Santa Ynez Valley; the Inner Coast Ranges south of the Eel River; and the Transverse Ranges from the Tehachapi Mountains to the Simi Hills, Santa Susana Mountains. It is also present on Santa Cruz Island and Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the most picturesque stands are found in Sonoma Valley, Round Valley in Mendocino County and the southern Salinas Valley near the up-river reaches of the Salinas River. [4] [12]

Ecology

Like many oaks, valley oaks can tolerate wildfires. Although smaller individuals may be top-killed, most resprout from the root crown. [13]

A variety of mammals and birds eat the acorns, including the acorn woodpecker, California scrub jay, yellow-billed magpie, and California ground squirrel. [10] The acorns are also attacked by bruchid beetles, but can survive moderate levels of infestation. [14]

Globular galls up to several centimeters in diameter are frequently attached to twigs of mature specimens of valley oak. These house the larval stage of small indigenous wasps Andricus quercuscalifornicus . A related wasp species, A. kingi , produces small galls shaped like Hershey's kisses on leaf surfaces. The valley oak is the only known food plant of Chionodes petalumensis caterpillars.

Uses

The acorns are sweet and edible; Native Americans including the Southern Paiute people roasted them and ground the edible portion into meal to make into bread and mush. [15] [16]

Difficulties in acquiring valley oak wood as well as issues stemming from its drying such as cracking and warping have shifted its consumption from a general purpose lumber to a primarily niche product. [10] Valley oak wood has a small, but significant market for use in cabinetry though, and is also suitable for hardwood flooring. [10] Tyloses present in the pores of valley oak wood increase its impermeability to fluids allowing it to be used in the production of water-tight vessels. [10] Such vessels include wine barrels where valley oak wood sees limited role in the composition of and where it has similar properties to other white oaks such as a reduced tannin load compared to the red oaks and an open grain that allows for an increased transfer of oxygen. [10]

Observational history

The Hooker Oak, Chico, California (c. 1910) Hooker Oak.png
The Hooker Oak, Chico, California (c. 1910)

In 1792, the English explorer George Vancouver noted on his expedition through the Santa Clara Valley, after seeing an expanse of valley oaks:

For about twenty miles it could only be compared to a park which had originally been closely planted with the true old English oak; the underwood, that had probably attended its early growth, had the appearance of having been cleared away and left the stately lords of the forest in complete possession of the soil which was covered with luxuriant foliage. [17]

In the year 1861, William Henry Brewer, the chief botanist for the first California Geological Survey wrote of the valley oaks that he saw in Monterey County:

First I passed through a wild canyon, then over hills covered with oats, with here and there trees—oaks and pines. Some of these oaks were noble ones indeed. How I wish one stood in our yard at home....I measured one [valley oak] with wide spreading and cragged branches, that was 26.5 feet in circumference. Another had a diameter of over six feet, and the branches spread over 75 feet each way. I lay beneath its shade a little while before going on. [17]

The Hooker Oak of Chico, California, was once considered the largest-known valley oak. When it fell on May 1, 1977, it was nearly 30 m (100 ft) and 8.8 m (29 ft) in circumference at 2.4 m (8 ft) from the ground.

See also

Related Research Articles

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

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<i>Quercus robur</i> Species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family Fagaceae

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

Quercus garryana is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Garry Oak, Oregon white oak or Oregon oak. It grows from sea level to an altitude of 690 feet in the northern part of its range, and from 980 to 5,900 ft in the south of the range in California. The eponymous Nicholas Garry was deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

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

Quercus cerris, the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months.

<i>Umbellularia</i> Genus of trees

Umbellularia californica is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests and the Sierra foothills of California, and to coastal forests extending into Oregon. It is endemic to the California Floristic Province. It is the sole species in the genus Umbellularia.

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

Quercus macrocarpa, the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, Quercus sect. Quercus, and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub oak. The acorns are the largest of any North American oak, and are important food for wildlife.

<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 gambelii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus gambelii, with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak.

<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 faginea</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus faginea, the Portuguese oak, is a species of oak native to the western Mediterranean region in the Iberian Peninsula. Similar trees in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa are usually included in this species, or sometimes treated as a distinct species, Quercus tlemcenensis. It occurs in mountains from sea level to 1,900 metres above sea level, and flourishes in a variety of soils and climates. Out of all the oak forests in the Iberian Peninsula, the southern populations of Portuguese oak were found to have the highest diversity and endemism of spider species.

<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 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 dumosa</i> Species of oak tree

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<i>Quercus <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> macdonaldii</i> Species of tree

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

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

Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, 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.

References

  1. ↑ Beckman, E.; Jerome, D. (2017). "Quercus lobata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T61983021A61983023. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T61983021A61983023.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Née, Luis (1801). Anales de Ciencias Naturales. Vol. 3. p.  277–278: diagnosis in Latin, description in Spanish.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ↑ "Quercus lobata". 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
  4. 1 2 "Quercus lobata". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.
  5. ↑ Pavlik, B.M.; Muick, P; Johnson, S; Popper, M (1992). Oaks of California. Cachuma Press. ISBN   978-0-9628505-1-6.
  6. ↑ Sawyer, John O; Keeler-Wolf, Todd (1995). A manual of California Vegetation. California Native Plant Society. p. 312.
  7. ↑ "American Forests". americanforests.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  8. ↑ "Towering tree on Fetzer ranch has inspired awe for centuries" . Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  9. 1 2 Nixon, Kevin C. (1997). "Quercus lobata". 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 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Howard, Janet L. (1992). "Quercus lobata". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Chesnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. p. 406. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  12. 1 2 Griffin, JR; Critchfield, WB (1972). The Distribution of Forest Trees in California. Berkeley: Pacific Southwest Forest Station and Range Experiment Station, United States Department of Agriculture.
  13. ↑ Holmes, K.A.; K.E. Veblen; A.M. Berry; T.P. Young (2011). "Effects of prescribed fires on planted valley oak saplings at a research restoration site in the Sacramento Valley". Restoration Ecology. 19: 118–125. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2009.00529.x. S2CID   13059876.
  14. ↑ Hobbs, T.; T.P. Young (2001). "Growing Valley Oak". Ecological Restoration. 19 (3): 165–171. doi:10.3368/er.19.3.165. S2CID   88931543.
  15. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 405. ISBN   0394507614.
  16. ↑ Angier, Bradford (1974). Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books. p. 25. ISBN   0-8117-0616-8. OCLC   799792.
  17. 1 2 Balls, EK (1972). Early Uses of California Plants. University of California Press, Berkeley.
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