Quercus vacciniifolia |
Quercus chrysolepis |
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huckleberry oak |
canyon live oak, gold cup live oak, maul oak |
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Habit | 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. | Trees or shrubs, trees small to medium-sized, to 25 m, shrubs of variable size. |
Twigs | branching at 60° angles or less, golden brown, 1-2 mm diam., flexible, densely pubescent 1st year, moderately so 2d year. |
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Leaves | 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. |
blade oblong, acuminate, usually flat to slightly concave, 20-70 × 10-35 mm, thick, leathery, base obtuse to rounded, secondary veins 12 or more pairs, branching at ca. 50° angles, slightly raised abaxially, margins often slightly revolute with moderately thickened cell walls, entire to spinulose-dentate (especially on juvenile growth), regularly toothed, teeth terminating with mucronate to spinescent tip, apex acute or obtuse, mucronate to spinescent; surfaces abaxially glabrate to pubescent with bluish white wax layer, often obscured by golden glandular and multiradiate hairs, adaxially yellowish green, scurfy with multiradiate hairs, later in season slightly pubescent. |
Acorns | 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. |
solitary or paired, rarely in 3s or 4s; cup saucer-shaped, 4-10 mm deep × 15-40 mm wide, rims often corky and thickened, scales appressed, deeply embedded in tomentum, often appearing swollen and keeled, tuberculate; nut ovoid, 15-30 × 10-20 mm, apex blunt, glabrous; nut scar 4-10 mm diam. |
Terminal | buds conic, 2.5 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins. |
buds conic, 2-8 mm, scales brown with ciliate margins. |
Quercus vacciniifolia |
Quercus chrysolepis |
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Phenology | Flowering in early summer. | Flowering usually in spring, occasionally in fall. |
Habitat | Dry ridges, steep slopes, and rocky areas from montane coniferous zone to near treeline | Mountain ridges, canyons, and moist slopes |
Elevation | 900-2800 m (3000-9200 ft) | 200-2600 m (700-8500 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR
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AZ; CA; NM; NV; OR; Mexico (Baja California and Chihuahua)
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Discussion | 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.) |
Quercus chrysolepis is one of the most variable North American oaks. Historically, individuals with extreme variation in fruit and leaf characteristics led to the recognition of several varieties and forms; for example, shrubs with small leaves have been called Q. chrysolepis var. nana (Jepson) Jepson. Studies of quantitative and qualitative variation in these characteristics do not support the recognition of infraspecific taxa; geographic variation is apparent, however, based on populations with nearly stabilized character combinations that loosely define widespread variants. This oak is distinguished consistently from other species of the complex by the presence of multiradiate trichomes on both leaf surfaces (P. S. Manos 1993). The leaf morphology and branching habit present on juvenile growth, suckers, and shade forms may approach typical Q. palmeri. Similarly, various extreme forms often resemble other species of the complex. Putative hybrids have been reported from narrow zones of range overlap with the three other North American species of Quercus sect. Protobalanus. The Mendocin Indians considered the nuts of Quercus chrysolepis poisonous (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. Protobalanus | Fagaceae > Quercus > sect. Protobalanus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Q. chrysolepis var. nana, Q. wilcoxii | |
Name authority | Hittell: Resources Calif. 101. (1863) — (as vaccinifolia) | Liebmann: Overs. Kongel. Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Forh. Medlemmers Arbeider 1854: 173. (1854) |
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