Flora of North America species comparison

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Quercus stellata

Quercus agrifolia

post oak

California live oak, coast live oak, encina
Habit Trees, deciduous, to 20(-30) m. Bark light gray, scaly. Trees, evergreen, to 25 m. Bark gray to dark brown or black, ridges broad, rounded.
Twigs

yellowish or grayish, (2-)3-5 mm diam., densely stellate-pubescent.

brown to red-brown, 1.5-3 mm diam., with scattered pubescence or uniformly pubescent.
Buds

reddish brown, ovoid, to 4 mm, apex obtuse or acute, sparsely pubescent.

Leaves

blade obovate to narrowly obovate, elliptic or obtriangular, 40-150(-200) × 20-100(-120) mm, rather stiff and hard, base rounded-attenuate to cordate, sometimes cuneate, margins shallowly to deeply lobed, lobes rounded or spatulate, usually distal 2 lobes divergent at right angles to midrib in cruciform pattern, secondary veins 3-5 on each side, apex broadly rounded;

surfaces abaxially yellowish green, with crowded yellowish glandular hairs and scattered minute, 6-8-rayed, appressed or semi-appressed stellate hairs, not velvety to touch, adaxially dark or yellowish green, dull or glossy, sparsely stellate, often somewhat sandpapery with harsh hairs.

blade broadly elliptic to ovate or oblong, 15-75 × 10-40 mm, base rounded or cordate, margins entire or spinose, with up to 24 awns, apex blunt to attenuate;

surfaces abaxially glabrous or with small axillary tufts of tomentum, veins raised, adaxially distinctly convex, rugose, glabrous, occasionally densely uniformly pubescent.
Acorns

1-3, subsessile or on peduncle to 6(-40) mm;

cup deeply saucer-shaped, proximally rounded or constricted, 7-12(-18) mm deep × (7-)10-15(-25) mm wide, enclosing 1/4-2/3 nut, scales tightly appressed, finely grayish pubescent;

nut light brown, ovoid or globose, 10-20 × 8-12(-20) mm, glabrous or finely puberulent.

annual;

cup turbinate to cup- or bowl-shaped, rarely saucer-shaped, 9-13 mm high × 9-15 mm wide, covering 1/4-1/3(-1/2) nut, outer surface glabrous to sparsely puberulent, inner surface pubescent on innermost 1/3 to uniformly pubescent, scales acute, tips loose;

nut ovoid to oblong or conic, 15-35 × 10-15 mm, glabrous, scar diam. 3.5-8 mm.
Cotyledons

distinct.

Terminal

buds light chestnut brown, ovoid, occasionally subconic, 3-6(-7) mm, glabrous except for cilia along scale margins.
2n

= 24.

Quercus stellata

Quercus agrifolia
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering early to mid spring.
Habitat Usually on xeric sites, dry gravelly and sandy ridges and uplands, dry clays, prairies and limestone hills, woodlands and deciduous forests Moderately dry sites
Elevation 0-750 m (0-2500 ft) 0–1400 m (0–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Quercus stellata is often identified by its commonly cross-shaped leaf form, particularly in the eastern part of its range. All individuals and populations do not express this characteristic, however. Moreover, Q. stellata has broad overlap with Q. margaretta and even with some forms of the blackjack oak, Q. marilandica, one of its most common associates. The thick yellowish twigs with indument of stellate hairs and the dense harsh stellate hairs on the abaxial leaf surface are better diagnostic characteristics when variation includes leaf forms that are not obviously cruciform.

Native Americans used Quercus stellata medicinally for indigestion, chronic dysentery, mouth sores, chapped skin, hoarseness, and milky urine, as an antiseptic, and as a wash for fever and chills (D. E. Moerman 1986).

Putative hybrids are known with Quercus marilandica, Q. alba, and various other white oaks. Quercus stellata is also one of the few oaks that appears to produce hybrids with species in the live oak group, although obvious intermediates are rarely encountered. Nothospecies names based on putative hybrids involving Q. stellata include: Q. ×stelloides E. J. Palmer (= Q. prinoides × Q. stellata), Q. ×mahloni E. J. Palmer (as Q. sinuata var. breviloba × Q. stellata), Q. ×pseudomargaretta Trelease (= Q. margaretta × Q. stellata), Q. ×sterretti Trelease (= Q. lyrata × Q. stellata), Q. ×macnabiana Sudworth (= Q. sinuata × Q. stellata), Q. ×guadalupensis Sargent (= Q. sinuata × Q. stellata), Q. ×fernowi Trelease (= Q. alba × Q. stellata), and Q. ×bernardensis W. Wolf (= Q. montana × Q. stellata).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Quercus agrifolia is found in the Coast Ranges from Sonoma County, California, south to Baja California. Plants with densely pubescent leaves, especially abaxially, have been treated as Q. agrifolia var. oxyadenia.

This species reportedly hybridizes with Quercus kelloggii and Q. wislizenii.

The Mahuna used Quercus agrifolia medicinally to heal the bleeding navel of a newborn (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Quercus Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Lobatae
Sibling taxa
Q. acerifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Q. acerifolia, Q. ajoensis, Q. alba, Q. arizonica, Q. arkansana, Q. austrina, Q. berberidifolia, Q. bicolor, Q. boyntonii, Q. buckleyi, Q. carmenensis, Q. chapmanii, Q. chihuahuensis, Q. chrysolepis, Q. coccinea, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. depressipes, Q. douglasii, Q. dumosa, Q. durata, Q. ellipsoidalis, Q. emoryi, Q. engelmannii, Q. falcata, Q. fusiformis, Q. gambelii, Q. garryana, Q. geminata, Q. georgiana, Q. graciliformis, Q. gravesii, Q. grisea, Q. havardii, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. hinckleyi, Q. hypoleucoides, Q. ilicifolia, Q. imbricaria, Q. incana, Q. inopina, Q. intricata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. kelloggii, Q. laceyi, Q. laevis, Q. laurifolia, Q. lobata, Q. lyrata, Q. macrocarpa, Q. margarettae, Q. marilandica, Q. michauxii, Q. minima, Q. mohriana, Q. montana, Q. muehlenbergii, Q. myrtifolia, Q. nigra, Q. oblongifolia, Q. oglethorpensis, Q. pacifica, Q. pagoda, Q. palmeri, Q. palustris, Q. phellos, Q. polymorpha, Q. prinoides, Q. pumila, Q. pungens, Q. robur, Q. robusta, Q. rubra, Q. rugosa, Q. sadleriana, Q. shumardii, Q. similis, Q. sinuata, Q. stellata, Q. tardifolia, Q. texana, Q. tomentella, Q. toumeyi, Q. turbinella, Q. vacciniifolia, Q. vaseyana, Q. velutina, Q. viminea, Q. virginiana, Q. wislizenii
Synonyms Q. minor, Q. obtusiloba Q. acroglandis, Q. agrifolia var. oxyadenia, Q. pricei
Name authority Wangenheim: Beytr. Teut. Forstwiss., 78, plate 6, fig. 15. (1787) Nee.: Anales Ci. Nat. 3: 271. (1801)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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