Desert Oak, Quercus palmeri

About Desert Oak (Quercus palmeri) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Quercus palmeri is a species of oak known by the common name Palmer oak, or Palmer's oak. It is native to California, Baja California, New Mexico, and in Arizona through the transition zone to the eastern Mogollon Rim, where it grows in canyons, mountain slopes, washes, and other dry habitat types. Quercus palmeri is a shrub or small tree growing up to 3 meters (10 feet) tall, but known to reach 6 meters (20 feet) at times. It branches into angular twigs and is reddish brown. The leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters (0. 4-1. 2 inches) in length. They are stiff, leathery, and brittle, their edges wavy with sharp spine-teeth. The upper surface is shiny, waxy, and olive green in color, the lower gray-green and coated with glandular hairs. The fruit is an acorn with a hairy cap up to 2. 5 centimeters (1 inch) wide and a blunt-ended nut 2 to 3 centimeters (0. 8-1. 2 inches) long. Quercus palmeri is a shrub or small tree growing up to 3 meters (10 feet) tall, but known to reach 6 meters (20 feet) at times. It branches into angular twigs and is reddish brown. The leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters (0. 4-1. 2 inches) in length. They are stiff, leathery, and brittle, their edges wavy with sharp spine-teeth. The upper surface is shiny, waxy, and olive green in color, the lower gray-green and coated with glandular hairs. The fruit is an acorn with a hairy cap up to 2. 5 centimeters (1 inch) wide and a blunt-ended nut 2 to 3 centimeters (0. 8-1. 2 inches) long. Quercus palmeri usually grows in small populations, some of which are actually cloned growths of a single plant. One such clone in the Jurupa Mountains in Riverside County, California, named the Jurupa Oak, was determined to be over 13,000 years old, a single individual living as a relict from the Pleistocene. It is therefore one of the oldest living plants in the world.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

9.8 - 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 ( 138 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

Sun

Full Sun

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).

Sunset Zones?

7*, 8, 9*, 10, 11, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24

Natural Setting

Site Type

Rocky slopes, flats

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 4.2" - 60.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.18" - 2.04", Coldest Month: 40.1" - 57.7", Hottest Month: 59.9" - 87.3", Humidity: 0.81" - 38.58", Elevation: -3814" - 5640"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Palmer Oak, Palmer's 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

Desert Oak

Quercus palmeri

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Desert OakQuercus palmeri

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Desert Oak

Quercus palmeri