Quercus agrifolia Née

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Quercus agrifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-agrifolia/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Genus

  • Quercus
  • Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae

Common Names

  • Encina

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

cone
Term used here primarily to indicate the seed-bearing (female) structure of a conifer (‘conifer’ = ‘cone-producer’); otherwise known as a strobilus. A number of flowering plants produce cone-like seed-bearing structures including Betulaceae and Casuarinaceae.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Article from New Trees by John Grimshaw & Ross Bayton

Recommended citation
'Quercus agrifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-agrifolia/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

An evergreen tree up to 80 ft or more high in California; young shoots densely covered with starry down. Leaves hard in texture, oval or roundish, heart-shaped to tapered at the base, margined with slender, spiny teeth; 1 to 2 in. long, 34 to 112 in. wide, dark shining green and glabrous above, paler, not so glossy beneath, and glabrous except for tufts of down in the vein-axils; stalk 14 to 12 in. long, stellately downy. Acorns cone-shaped, solitary or in pairs, stalkless, about 1 in. long, 58 in. wide near the base, tapered gradually to a point, the lower third enclosed in a cup which is silvery within, and covered with close, flattened scales without. They ripen the first year.

Native of California and of Mexico (in Baja California); introduced for the Horticultural Society by Hartweg, in 1849; now very rare. Among cultivated evergreen oaks with spiny toothed leaves it is distinct by reason of the tufts of down in the vein-axils and the tapered, conical acorns. It is an interesting oak, but of no particular merit.

There are several examples of this oak at Kew, which are quite hardy and occasionally bear acorns. The largest is 52 × 534 ft (1971).

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Kew, 54 × 612 ft (1981); Hillier Arboretum, Ampfield, Hants, pl. 1954, 41 × 312 ft (1985).

From New Trees

Quercus agrifolia Née

(Subgen. Quercus, Sect. Lobatae)

Coast Live Oak

This species was described by Bean (B460, S406) and Krüssmann (K81).


var. oxyadenia (Torr.) J.T. Howell

This variety differs from typical Q. agrifolia in that persistent stellate pubescence forms a felt-like covering on the branchlets, petioles and lower leaf surfaces. Var. agrifolia is entirely glabrous. Howell 1931. Distribution MEXICO: Baja California; USA: southern California. Habitat High valleys and canyon floors at about 1400 m asl. USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Conservation status Least Concern. Illustration NT698. Taxonomic note Valencia-A. (2004) does not distinguish var. oxyadenia.

This taxon was introduced to the United Kingdom by Warner and Howick (WAHO 345) from a collection made in San Diego Co., California in 1986. At Kew a specimen from this gathering has made a fine tree of c.10 m, with numerous vertical branches, forming a dense canopy that extends to the ground. This was fruiting freely in November 2005.