Shrub Live Oak
Quercus turbinella
Illustrated from a specimen found near Camp Creek, Maricopa County, Arizona 18 April 1992.
SHRUB: Typically grows to a large shrub with several to many principal
stems but can also grow as a small tree.
LEAVES: The dull evergreen leaves are usually smaller than other oak
species and the leaf perimeters are toothed and sharply mucronate (spiny). The
leaves have a dull, scruffy cast.
RANGE: An important component of the chaparral in Arizona, appearing
above 1100 m mostly in the foothills of the mountains. A population occurs in
the deep shade of Palm Canyon in the Kofa Mountains. The population in the Ajo
Mountains at Organ Pipe Monument has been named Quercus ajoensis and
is more often a small tree.
FRUIT: Acorns.
The cup shells are smooth inside, not tomentose (fuzzy).
FLOWERS: Greenish (may appear yellow due to abundant pollen), small and
born in catkin-like spikes. Male and female flowers separate. Wind pollinated.
UNARMED. There are no thorns on twigs or branches, however, the leaf
margins can be surprisingly prickly.