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Interior Live Oak
(Quercus wislizenii)
Description: Evergreen tree with short trunk and broad, rounded crown of stout, spreading branches; sometimes a shrub.Height: 30-70' (9-21 m).
Diameter: 1-3' (0.3-0.9 m).
Leaves: evergreen; 1-2" (2.5-5 cm) long, 1/2-1 1/4" (1.2-3 cm) wide. Lance-shaped to elliptical, short-pointed at tip, blunt or rounded at base, often with short, spiny teeth, thick and leathery, hairless. Shiny dark green above, light yellow-green with prominent network of veins beneath.
Bark: gray, becoming furrowed into narrow, scaly ridges.
Acorns: 3/4-1 1/2" (2-4 cm) long; egg-shaped, long-pointed, often with long, dark lines, about 1/2 enclosed by deep, thin, scaly cup; 1 or 2 on short stalks or stalkless; maturing second year.
Habitat: Valleys and slopes in foothill woodlands; with other oaks and Digger Pine.
Range: N. to S. California, mostly in foothills of Sierra Nevada and inner Coast Ranges, and N. Baja California; at 1000-5000' (305-1524 m).
Discussion: This species is named for its discoverer, Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810-89), a German-born physician of St. Louis, Missouri. Although slowgrowing, Interior Live Oak is planted as an ornamental. Deer browse the foliage, and the wood is used for fuel.