Interior live oak | |
---|---|
Leaves and acorn. The leaf margins are sometimes spiny rather than smooth. | |
Typical growth habit | |
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. Lobatae |
Species: | Q. wislizeni |
Binomial name | |
Quercus wislizeni | |
Combined ranges of Quercus wislizeni and Quercus parvula | |
Synonyms [4] | |
|
Quercus wislizeni, known by the common name interior live oak, [4] is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California [5] 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 [6] [7] —and the San Gabriel Mountains. It was named for its collector, Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810–1889). [4]
It is a large shrub or tree [8] growing to 22 metres (72 feet) tall, although where it is common in the low-elevation Sierra Nevada foothills it seldom exceeds 10 m (33 ft). The dark-green leaves—appearing grayish from a distance—are usually small, 2–5 centimetres (1–2 inches) long, thick, and often spiny-toothed at higher elevations, particularly on young trees. The male flowers are on catkins, the female flowers in leaf axils. The acorns are 1–2 cm (1⁄2–1 in) long, and mature the second season (about 18 months) after flowering. [8]
Although originally published by Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle as "wislizeni", [2] some sources, e.g., Jensen in Flora of North America, [8] mistakenly spelled the specific epithet "wislizenii." Correct spelling is with one "i," per ICN article 60C.2. [9] Wislizenus' specimen was thought by de Candolle to have been collected in Chihuahua, Mexico. However, German-born American botanist Georg Engelmann later corrected the location to the American fork of the Sacramento River near Auburn, California.
California physician and botanist (and one of the founding fathers of the California Academy of Sciences) Albert Kellogg described an oak in an 1855 publication as Quercus arcoglandis (spur acorn oak), [10] apparently the same species as Q. wislizeni. This clearly predates French-Swiss botanist de Candolle's 1864 name, and if confirmed to be this same taxon would have priority. More investigation is needed to resolve this taxonomic conflict.
Currently there are two recognized varieties of interior live oak: [11]
The interior live oak is a red oak (section Lobatae) in the California Floristic Province (series Agrifoliae). Q. wislizeni hybridizes with California black oak (Q. kelloggii) (= Quercus × morehus, Abram's oak). All California red oaks show evidence of introgression and/or hybridization with one another.
A common alliant tree is gray pine (Pinus sabiniana). [13]
Deer browse the tree's foliage. [14]
Humans use the wood as a fuel source. [14]
Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak or 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.
Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinquapinoak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii is native to eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern Ontario, and in Mexico it ranges from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Venegasia is a genus of North American plants in the tribe Madieae within the family Asteraceae.
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 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.
Quercus dumosa is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae, belonging to the white oak section of the oak genus (Quercus). This tree goes by the common names coastal sage scrub oak and Nuttall's scrub oak.
Quercus × macdonaldii, formerly Quercus macdonaldii, with the common names MacDonald's oak and Macdonald oak, is a rare hybrid species of oak in the family Fagaceae.
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.
Quercus palmeri is a species of oak known by the common name Palmer oak, or Palmer's oak. It is native to California, Baja California, Southern Nevada, and in Arizona through the transition zone to the eastern Mogollon Rim, where it grows in canyons, mountain slopes, washes, and other dry habitats.
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 parvula, the Santa Cruz Island oak, is an evergreen red oak found on north-facing Santa Cruz Island slopes and in the California Coast Ranges from Santa Barbara County north to Mendocino County. It was taxonomically combined with Quercus wislizeni until resurrected as a separate species by Kevin Nixon in 1980. The type locality of Q. parvula var. shrevei is Palo Colorado Canyon in Monterey County. It is placed in Quercus section Quercus.
Quercus pacifica is a species of oak known by the common names island scrub oak, Channel Island scrub oak, and Pacific oak.
Quercus × morehus, Abram's oak in Kellogg's original description, is a named hybrid between the red oaks Quercus kelloggii and Quercus wislizeni. Originally published as the unique species Quercus morehus by Kellogg, rather than as the hybrid it is called today, this tree is found in the US states of California and possibly southern Oregon, usually where the territories of the purported parents overlap.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: |periodical=
ignored (help)