Shrub Oak

Quercus turbinella

Family: Fagaceae or Beech

Leaves: Alternate; simple; ovate; 1/2" to 1-1/4" long; evergreen; wavy margin with sharp, spiny teeth, can look like a small holly leaf; blue-green and whitish-waxy.

Twigs/buds: Twigs slender; brown. Terminal buds small; clustered at end of twig, brown.

Flowers/fruit: Fruit an acorn; short-stalked or no stalk; 1/2" long ; light-brown; shell glabrous inside; 1/2 enclosed by warty cap; matures in one season.

Bark: Gray-brown and scaly or flaky.

Wood: Unimportant and little known or used; ring porous.

General: Native to low canyon sites in southwestern Utah. Likely needs a fairly warm climate and can withstand some drought. Clumpy and shrubby, only getting up to about 8 feet tall. Shade intolerant.

Landscape Use: Rarely (if ever) planted; might occasionally find native plants in developed areas. Likely would need little water or care. Zones 7-9, though one is growing on the east side of a building in Provo, Utah. Wavyleaf oak (Quercus undulata--called Quercus havardii or shinnery oak by Welsh et al.) is another small, shrubby, evergreen oak native to southern Utah that has slightly crinkled or wavy leaves. Zones 7-9.

Comments and Limitations:

• Fruit and/or plant part can be a nuisances; use fruitless varieties if possible.
• Evergreen broadleaf (retains its leaves for more than one year).