''Quercus berberidifolia'', the California scrub oak, is a small

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

or semi-evergreen

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

in the

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

section of ''Quercus''. It is native to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and common in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

Description

''Quercus berberidifolia'' grows to tall, rarely to . In cooler, more exposed areas, scrub oak is usually a small, compact shrub, but in warm or sheltered areas the plant can spread out and grow several metres high. It has oval to egg-shaped, sharply toothed, dull green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

which are long and broad, leathery on their top surfaces and somewhat hairy underneath. Male and female

catkins A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

grow on the same plant, blooming as at the leaves unfurl. The solitary or paired brown

acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

s are long and broad, and pointed or egg-shaped with thin caps when mature; they mature in about 6–8 months after pollination.

Similar species

The species is often known simply as scrub oak, a name also applied to other ''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'' species, especially several which were formerly grouped under the single name ''Q. dumosa''; all are found in scrubby habitats. Many other scrub-type oaks may be found in these regions, and careful inspection is required to identify individuals of ''Q. berberidifolia'' and its hybrids.

Etymology

The epithet ''berberidifolia'' means 'barberry-leaved', referring to the spiny leaf margins characteristic of ''Q. berberidifolia'' as well as of several species of ''

Berberis ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America a ...

.''

Distribution and habitat

It is a native of the scrubby hills of

and a common member of

ecosystems.

Ecology

''Quercus berberidifolia'' sometimes hybridizes with other species.

Uses

The acorn is

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

In culture

The word ''chaparral'' is derived from the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

word for scrub oak, ''chaparro.'' The non-specific meaning of the term is 'short in stature'. Because most scrub vegetation is rather low growing, the term is broadly applied to all of the vegetation in chaparral communities.

References

External links

*
New York Times article: Oldest Scrub Oak through self cloning
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2701006 berberidifolia Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1854 Garden plants of North America