Quercus vacciniifolia (sometimes spelled Q. vaccinifolia), the huckleberry oak, is a member of the Protobalanus section of genus Quercus.[4] It has evergreen foliage, short styles, very bitter acorns that mature in 18 months, and a woolly acorn shell interior.
| Huckleberry oak | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Fagaceae |
| Genus: | Quercus |
| Subgenus: | Quercus subg. Quercus |
| Section: | Quercus sect. Protobalanus |
| Species: | Q. vacciniifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Quercus vacciniifolia | |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
| |
Description
editQuercus vacciniifolia is a shrubby evergreen of the oak family, which grows generally less than 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall and spreads horizontally, never becoming a tree. In the field, it is best identified from its clustered terminal buds, which is characteristic of all plants of the genus. Species are more easily identified in the presence of acorns. Acorns of Q. vacciniifolia mature in 2 years (biennial maturation) after pollination. Flowers and inflorescence characteristics are not used to significant extend in this genera. Q. vacciniifolia can be easily confused with Q. cedrosensis, which grows in dry chaparrals, such as California-Mexico border south, forests of Baja California and at higher elevations on Cedros Island.[5] Morphologically, the two species differ in their leaf margins: while Q. vacciniifolia leaves are entire to mucro-toothed, Q. cedrosensis leaves are entire or have irregular spine-tipped teeth.[5][6]
Distribution and habitat
editQuercus vacciniifolia is native to the western United States, where it can be found in the Sierra Nevada of California, where its distribution extends just into Nevada, and the Klamath Mountains and southern Cascade Range as far north as southern Oregon. It grows in high mountain forests. It also dominates sections of mountain chaparral.[7][8][9]
The species can be found in steep slopes, ridges, conifer forests, and sub-alpine forest, mostly in high montane area at altitudes of 150 to 2,930 m (490 to 9,610 ft).[10] It is native to California, but can also be found in Oregon and Nevada. Hybridization between Q. vacciniifolia and Q. chrysolepis has been extensively reported in Sierra Nevada.[5] Between the early and middle Holocene, 11,000 and 5,000 cal years BP, Q. vacciniifolia were an extensive shrub in the Klamath Mountains (at the northern portions of California), which had ultramafic soils. At this period, Q. vacciniifolia was a main fire developer due to its abundance, mid-height and resinous leaves. Today, Q. vacciniifolia rarely forms dense chaparral-like stands, allowing fire resistant species to grow intermittently.[11]
Ecology
editMany animal species use this shrub for food, including mule deer, which eat the leaves, and many birds and mammals, including the American black bear, which eat the acorns.[7]
Uses
editThe Quercus vacciniifolia plant is used in restoration, revegetation, and garden landscaping. It is good for preventing erosion, such as on the slopes above Lake Tahoe to slow the erosion that pollutes the lake.[7]
References
edit
- ^ Wenzell, K.; Kenny, L. (2016). "Quercus vacciniifolia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ "Quercus vacciniifolia Kellogg". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
- ^ "Quercus vaccinifolia Kellogg". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
- ^ Denk, Thomas; Grimm, Guido W.; Manos, Paul S.; Deng, Min & Hipp, Andrew L. (2017). "Appendix 2.1: An updated infrageneric classification of the oaks" (xls). figshare. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
- ^ a b c Kevin C. Nixon (2002) The Oak (Quercus) Biodiversity of California and Adjacent Regions, USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-184.
- ^ Nixon, Kevin C. (1997). "Quercus vaccinifolia". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ a b c Howard, Janet L. (1992). "Quercus vacciniifolia". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
- ^ "Quercus vacciniifolia". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
- ^ "Quercus vacciniifolia". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.
- ^ Rosatti, Thomas J.; Tucker, John M. (2014). "Quercus vacciniifolia". In Jepson Flora Project (ed.). Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley.
- ^ R. Scott Anderson. Holocene Forest Development and Paleoclimates within the Central Sierra Nevada, California. (1990) Journal of Ecology (1990), 78. p470-489.
External links
edit- Jepson Manual treatment
- Quercus vacciniifolia in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley