Island Scrub Oak, Quercus pacifica

About Island Scrub Oak (Quercus pacifica) 2 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Quercus pacifica is a species of oak known by the common names island scrub oak, Channel Island scrub oak, and Pacific oak. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it is known from Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Santa Catalina Islands. Though limited to three islands, it is not uncommon there, occurring in grassland, chaparral, oak woodlands, forest, and other habitat. It is the dominant oak in many areas on Catalina Island.It was described as a new species in 1994 from a specimen on Santa Cruz Island.This is a shrub or a small tree growing up to five meters in height, or occasionally taller. The leaves are roughly oval in shape and edged with pointed teeth. The green blades are up to 4 centimeters long by 4 wide. They have shiny upper surfaces and waxy, hairy, glandular undersides. The acorn has a cap up to 2 centimeters wide and a nut measuring 2 or 3 centimeters long.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

10 - 20 ft tall

Flower Color

Cream, Green

Wildlife Supported

Many insects are attracted to Oaks generally, including the following butterflies which use Oaks as host plant: California Sister, Propertius Duskywing, Mournful Duskywing, Golden Hairstreak, and Gold-Hunter's Hairstreak.
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 91 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulusPapilio rutulus

Lorquin's Admiral Limenitis lorquiniLimenitis lorquini

California Sister Adelpha californicaAdelpha californica

Propertius Duskywing Erynnis propertiusErynnis propertius

California Hairstreak Satyrium californicaSatyrium californica

Golden Hairstreak Habrodais grunusHabrodais grunus

Mournful Duskywing Erynnis tristisErynnis tristis

Landscaping Information

Moisture

Very Low

Nurseries

Carried by 2

Common uses

Bank Stabilization, Hedges, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds sow in fall outdoors or stratify to hold for spring sowing. (USDA Forest Service 1974).

Natural Setting

Site Type

Canyonsides, slopes

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 9.6" - 19.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 0.48", Coldest Month: 44.0" - 57.2", Hottest Month: 62.7" - 73.0", Humidity: 1.40" - 22.41", Elevation: 7" - 3198"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Channel Island Scrub Oak, Pacific Oak

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Island Scrub Oak

Quercus pacifica

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Island Scrub OakQuercus pacifica

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Island Scrub Oak

Quercus pacifica