Quercus minima

Last updated

Dwarf live oak
Dwarf-Live-Oak.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
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. minima
Binomial name
Quercus minima
Synonyms [3]
List
  • Quercus virens var. dentataChapm. [4]
  • Quercus virginiana var. minimaSarg.
  • Quercus andromeda f. nanaTrel.
  • Quercus geminata var. succulenta(Small) Trel.
  • Quercus minima f. pygmaea(Sarg.) Trel.
  • Quercus minima var. pygmaea(Sarg.) A.Camus
  • Quercus minima f. reasoneriTrel.
  • Quercus pygmaea(Sarg.) Ashe
  • Quercus succulentaSmall
  • Quercus virginiana subsp. dentata(Chapm.) A.E.Murray
  • Quercus virginiana var. dentata(Chapm.) Sarg.
  • Quercus virginiana var. pygmaeaSarg.

Quercus minima, the dwarf live oak or minimal oak, is a North American species of shrubs in the beech family. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is placed in the southern live oaks section of the genus Quercus (section Virentes). [5]

Contents

Description

Quercus minima leaves Quercus minima 1.JPG
Quercus minima leaves

Quercus minima is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub rarely more than 2 metres (6+12 feet) tall, reproducing by seed and also by means of underground rhizomes. It commonly forms extensive cloned colonies with many stems, many of them unbranched. The leaves are alternate, up to 12 centimetres (4+12 inches) long, and toothless or with irregular teeth or lobes. The lobes, when present, are usually spine-tipped. The leaves are retained through the winter, dropping just before or as new growth resumes in late winter or early spring. [6]

Distribution and habitat

Quercus minima is native to the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, primarily in Florida but extending from there to the Carolinas and eastern Louisiana. [7] There are reports of the species also growing in Texas, but these populations appear to belong to other taxa. [6] [8]

Q. minima has been observed growing in environments such as open rocky areas, pine flatwoods, slash pine flatwoods, and along wetland shores. [9]

Conservation

The IUCN conservation status is Least Concern (LC). [1] The NatureServe conservation status is G5 Secure. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Wenzell, K.; Kenny, L. (2015). "Quercus minima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 Quercus minima. (n.d.). NatureServe. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145667/Quercus_minima
  3. "Quercus minima (Sarg.) 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
  4. Small, John Kunkel (1897). "Shrubs and Trees of the Southern States.II". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 24 (9): 438.
  5. 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.
  6. 1 2 Nixon, Kevin C. (1997). "Quercus minima". 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.
  7. Kartesz, John T. (2014). "Quercus minima". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
  8. NRCS. "Quercus minima". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  9. Florida State University Herbarium Database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2021. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Robert K. Godfrey, Robert Kral, and Sidney McDaniel. States and counties: Florida: Calhoun, Franklin, Highlands, Leon, Liberty, Osceola, and Washington.