Quercus pumila |
Quercus vacciniifolia |
|
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runner oak, running oak |
huckleberry oak |
|
Habit | Shrubs, deciduous or tardily deciduous, to 1 m. Bark gray to dark brown. | Shrubs, low spreading to often prostrate, to 1.5 m. Twigs branching at 45° angles or less, reddish brown, 1-1.5 mm diam., flexible, glabrous to sparsely pubesent. |
Twigs | gray-brown to reddish brown, 1-2 mm diam., sparsely to uniformly pubescent. |
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Leaves | blade oblong to narrowly obovate, 25-100 × 10-33 mm, base acute to rounded, margins entire, revolute, with 1 apical awn, apex acute or obtuse to rounded; surfaces abaxially uniformly gray-brown pubescent, rarely glabrate, adaxially somewhat convex, rugose, glabrous or with scattered hairs along midrib. |
blade oblong-ovate, 10-35 × 7-15 mm, flat, thin, leathery, base slightly rounded to acute, secondary veins inconspicuous, 6-8 pairs, branching at 45-60° angles, with weakly thickened cell walls, margins entire or indistinctly and irregularly mucronately toothed, apex acute or rarely obtuse; surfaces abaxially whitish green with waxy layer, glabrous or slightly pubescent with stellate hairs, adaxially dull gray-green, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with stellate hairs. |
Acorns | annual; cup deeply saucer-shaped to turbinate, 5-12 mm high × 10-15 mm wide, covering 1/3-1/2(-2/3) nut, outer surface pubescent, inner surface densely pubescent, scales rarely involute, often tuberculate, tips tightly appressed, acute; nut globose to ovoid or broadly oblong, 9.5-15 × 9-12 mm, glabrate, scar diam. 5-8 mm. |
solitary or rarely paired; cup shallowly saucer-shaped to slightly turbinate, 3-4 mm deep × 10-15 mm wide, scales appressed, slightly embedded, moderately silvery brown-pubescent; nut ovoid, 8-17 × 5-10 mm, apex acute; nut scar to 3 mm diam. |
Terminal | buds brown to red-brown, ovoid, 2.5-4.5 mm, glabrous or with ciliate scale margins. |
buds conic, 2.5 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins. |
Quercus pumila |
Quercus vacciniifolia |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering in early summer. |
Habitat | Dry sandy soils of savannahs, low ridges and oak-pine scrub, occasionally at margins of poorly drained sites | Dry ridges, steep slopes, and rocky areas from montane coniferous zone to near treeline |
Elevation | 0-100 m (0-300 ft) | 900-2800 m (3000-9200 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC
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CA; NV; OR
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Discussion | Although no hybrid combinations have been formally proposed, D. M. Hunt (1989) has reported evidence of hybridization with Quercus hemisphaerica, Q. incana, Q. myrtifolia, and Q. phellos. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Typical high-elevation populations in the Sierra Nevada of California can be distinguished from all shrubby forms of Quercus chrysolepis by the absence of glandular trichomes and by thin cups with small nut-attachment scars. At lower elevations in northern California and southwestern Oregon, secondary contact with Q. chrysolepis has resulted in the formation of hybrids. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Protobalanus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Walter: Fl. Carol., 234. (1788) | Hittell: Resources Calif. 101. (1863) — (as vaccinifolia) |
Web links |