Mexican blue oak | |
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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. Quercus |
Species: | Q. oblongifolia |
Binomial name | |
Quercus oblongifolia | |
Natural range of Quercus oblongifolia |
Quercus oblongifolia, commonly known as the Mexican blue oak, Arizona blue oak, Blue live oak or Sonoran blue oak, is an evergreen small tree or large shrub in the white oak group. [2] [3]
Quercus oblongifolia grows in high grasslands, canyons and mesas in southwestern United States (Texas, Arizona and New Mexico) and northwestern Mexico (Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa and Sonora states). [4] [5] [3] Mexican blue oak is closely related to Engelman oak "Quercus engelmannii" in Southern California. The two species may be conspecific. [4]
The Mexican blue oak is a small evergreen tree growing 5–8 metres (16–27 feet) tall with a rounded crown. At higher elevations it is typically a large shrub. The trunk is up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) in diameter and the bark is light gray and densely furrowed. The twigs are yellowish brown and hairless with reddish brown buds. The leaves are small, alternate and oblong, with entire margins, leathery, bluish-green above and mid green below. The flowers appear in spring at the same time as the old leaves are being shed and new leaf growth starts. The male flowers form yellowish-green catkins and the female flowers are solitary or paired and grow in the leaf axils. The light brown acorns are ovoid or oblong, about 2 cm (3⁄4 in) long and lodged in scaly, bowl-shaped cups about one third the length of the nut. [4] [6]
The Mexican blue oak is common at elevations of 1,200 to 1,800 m (4,000–6,000 ft). It is often found on thin sandy soils in semi-arid regions and is the dominant species in lower open oak woodland where it grows in association with Arizona white oak ( Quercus arizonica ) and Emory oak ( Quercus emoryi ). [7] It is an important constituent of pinyon–juniper communities. [8] where it grows in association with species of pine and juniper, Arizona rosewood ( Vauquelinia californica ), shrubby buckwheat ( Eriogonum wrightii ), catclaw mimosa ( Mimosa aculeaticarpa ), bullgrass ( Muhlenbergia emersleyi ), plains lovegrass ( Eragrostis intermedia ), fendlerbush ( Fendlera rupicola ) and wolftail ( Lycurus phleoides ). [7]
Mexican blue oak "Quercus oblongifolia" popularity in landscaping has been increasing in California with many plantings at Apple Park and other Bay area plantings. The fast growth and beautiful blue foliage makes selections from trees in Arizona the best for cultivation. [9] [10]
Juniperus californica, the California juniper, is a species of juniper native to southwestern North America.
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.
The Sierra Madre Occidental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the Sierra Madre Occidental range from the southwest USA region to the western part of Mexico. They are home to a large number of endemic plants and important habitat for wildlife.
Berberis fremontii is a species of barberry known by the common name Frémont's mahonia.
Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a biome found mid-elevations in arid regions of the Western United States, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen junipers, pinyon pines, and their associates. At lower elevations, junipers often predominate and trees are spaced widely, bordering on and mingling with grassland or shrubland, but as elevation increases, pinyon pines become common and trees grow closer, forming denser canopies. Historically, pinyon-juniper woodland has provided a vital source of fuel and food for peoples of the American Southwest.
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.
Quercus arizonica, the Arizona white oak, is a North American tree species in the beech family. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, and Durango.
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 mohriana, commonly known as the Mohr oak, shin oak or scrub oak, is a North American evergreen shrub or small tree in the white oak group and is native to the south-central United States and north-central Mexico. The species epithet mohriana honors the pharmacist and botanist Charles Mohr of Alabama.
Quercus grisea, commonly known as the gray oak, shin oak or scrub oak, is a North American species deciduous or evergreen shrub or medium-sized tree in the white oak group. It is native to the mountains of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It hybridises with four other oak species where the ranges overlap, the Arizona white oak (Q. arizonica), the Gambel oak (Q. gambelii), the Mohr oak (Q. mohriana) and the sandpaper oak (Q. pungens).
Fendlera rupicola, commonly known as the cliff fendlerbush or the false mockorange, is a shrub that grows in dry locations in the south central mountain regions of North America.
Mimosa aculeaticarpa is a species of woody shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is commonly known as the catclaw mimosa or the wait-a-minute bush, and is endemic to upland regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, particularly Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name rayless goldenhead. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it occurs in southern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and Arizona.
Garrya wrightii is a species of flowering plant in the family Garryaceae known by the common names Wright's silktassel, quinine-bush, coffee berry, bearberry, feverbush, and grayleaf dogwood.
Lycium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by the common names pale wolfberry and pale desert-thorn. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In Mexico it can be found in Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosi. In the United States it occurs from California to Texas and as far north as Utah and Colorado.
The Sierra del Carmen, also called the Sierra Maderas del Carmen, is a northern finger of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. The Sierra begins at the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park and extends southeast for about 72 kilometres (45 mi), reaching a maximum elevation of 2,720 metres (8,920 ft). Part of the Sierra del Carmen is protected in the Maderas del Carmen Biosphere Reserve as part of a bi-national effort to conserve a large portion of the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico and Texas.
Quercus hypoleucoides, the silverleaf oak or the whiteleaf oak, is a North American species of oak tree or shrub. It grows in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Ambrosia salsola, commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush, white burrobrush, and desert pearl, is a species of perennial shrub in the family Asteraceae native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Quercus welshii, the wavy leaf oak, shinnery oak, or Tucker oak, is a North American species of shrub in the found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.
Cercocarpus breviflorus, commonly known as desert mountain mahogany or hairy mountain mahogany, is a species of plant in the rose family, native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.