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Gambel
Oak
Common
Name(s):
Gambel Oak
Scrub Oak
Scientific
Name:
Quercus
gambelii Nutt.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
QUGA
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Deciduous
Growth Characteristics:
A
clone forming, monoecious shrub or small tree growing 6 to 30 feet
tall. Gambel oak flowers March to April, the fruits mature in the
autumn of the first year after flowering. It reproduces from seed,
root sprouts, and tillers.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Inflorescence
is a unisexual catkin. Male catkins are long and many flowered.
Smaller female catkins are located at the branch apex.
Fruits/Seeds:
Acorns, solitary or clustered. Cup (involucre) covering nearly half
of its length. The acorn is usually yellowish brown when shed in
the fall.
Leaves: Leaves
are about 5 inches long with three or four rounded, deeply cleft
lobes on each side of the central vein. The lobe tips are smooth,
without spines or teeth. The leaves are bright green and shiny on
top, and dull green, and hairless to slightly hairy beneath. They
change in color to yellow or reddish brown in autumn when they fall.
Stems: Twigs
are slender, brown to reddish-brown, hairy to smooth, becoming grayish-brown.
They are usually crooked or distorted. The bark is gray, deeply
furrowed, and scaly. The wood is light brown, very hard, and heavy.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Gambel
oak is widespread at low elevations (4,000 to 8,000 feet) throughout
central and southern Utah. It is a predominate tree on dry foothills
and canyon walls where the rainfall averages between 12 and 25 inches
each year. Better stands may be found on moist, rich, well-drained
soils. The northern extent of gambel oak's range is Sardine Canyon
in Box Elder County.
Gambel oak has strong vegetative reproduction capabilities. In most
of its range, gambel oak regeneration depends more on sprouting
than establishment from seed. The large underground structure (Lignotuber)
of gambel oak supports rapid and extensive sprouting following top
removal. This vegetative reproduction is often dependent on disturbances
such as fire and cutting.
Soils: Common
on all soil types, can occur from gravels to loamy sands.
Associated Species:
Chokecherry,
arrowleaf balsamroot,
bigtooth maple, ponderosa
pine, serviceberry.
Uses and
Management:
Gambel
Oak provides fair forage for all classes of livestock, as well as
for deer, elk, and small wild mammals. The acorns are eaten by livestock
and wildlife. The shoots contain tannic acid, and poisoning of cattle
and occasionally sheep may occur from March to April. Poisoning
usually occurs when gambel oak makes up more than 50% of the animals
diet. Signs of poisoning include: constipation, bloody or black
feces emaciation and surface swelling on the body, and dry, cracked
nose. Freezing enhances the toxic properties of gambel oak. Young
foliage turned black by freezing is extremely toxic.
Gambel oak provides good winter habitat for mule deer and offers
high cover potential for deer and other wild animals.
Gambel oak has been a common source of fence posts and fuels. It
is also an important plant for watershed protection. The oak woodlands
are important deer winter range. The acorns of Gambel oak are edible
after the tannic acid is removed. American Indians used acorns to
thicken soup and make mush.
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