Oak ID help

[Wulfskaar]

I found some oak trees while taking a walk this morning, but don't know what they are. I thought they looked like Laurel Oaks because of the leaves, but when I looked up the acorns online, they did not look the same. Laurel Oak acorns look round and these are long. The closest I could find may be an Escarpment Oak (Q. fusiformis). I did not get any pics up close... these are from google street view (sorry for bad quality!). I'll be sowing the acorns regardless of what it is, but it would be nice to know. Thanks!

 

[Wulfskaar]

Those acorns are now planted!

 

[Joe Dupre']

I find the oaks here frustratingly hard to identify. Some trees have 4 different types of leaves at one time. Fairly unusual acorns, so that might help the ID.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I find the oaks here frustratingly hard to identify. Some trees have 4 different types of leaves at one time. Fairly unusual acorns, so that might help the ID.

Yeah, I can't find a perfect answer online. I'm sure I'll know more next year as they grow.

 

[rollwithak]

I’d need to see better close-ups of leaves to help identify…. Can you get another picture of the leaves?

 

[Aeast]

Looks like a costal live oak

 

[Wulfskaar]

@Aeast It's definitely NOT coast live oak, unless it's some hybrid with strange leaves. I'm very familiar with those because I have 3 or 4 large ones on my property.

@rollwithak Next time I'm back in that area, I'll stop for pictures. The ones I supplied above are from google street view.

I'll be excited to see what the leaves look like here in a couple of months!

 

[Aeast]

This can be the leaf variability I live oaks. Also oaks are pretty promiscuous and hybridized often.

 

[Wulfskaar]

This can be the leaf variability I live oaks. Also oaks are pretty promiscuous and hybridized often.

Very interesting. I really need to get up close and take pics again because the leaves were very different all over the tree than the coast live oaks I've seen (there are many thousands here).

Up close, they reminded me of laurel oak leaves and they had no sharp spines like CLO.

I'm not saying you're wrong, only that these trees just don't seem like the CLO around here at all.

 

[Esolin]

There are close to two dozen native oak species in California, and several that have been introduced--which these very well could be if they were growing alongside a road included on Google maps. Getting solid IDs is very very difficult. I tried to ID the not-Coast-Live-Oak in my brother's back yard, and am still scratching my head. Laurel? Engelmann? Mexican blue? After days of comparing pics, I couldn't pin it down and gave up.

What did the bark look like? I picked up some Cork Oak acorns in a park last week that looked similar to those. Cork oak acorns also have very fuzzy caps, and you can't mistake the bark.

 

[Wulfskaar]

There are close to two dozen native oak species in California, and several that have been introduced--which these very well could be if they were growing alongside a road included on Google maps. Getting solid IDs is very very difficult. I tried to ID the not-Coast-Live-Oak in my brother's back yard, and am still scratching my head. Laurel? Engelmann? Mexican blue? After days of comparing pics, I couldn't pin it down and gave up.

What did the bark look like? I picked up some Cork Oak acorns in a park last week that looked similar to those. Cork oak acorns also have very fuzzy caps, and you can't mistake the bark.

I really need to go back and take a closer look. I just searched for pics of Cork Oak and found some that look just like it. The only problem is the trees are behind walls/bushes with overhanging branches, so it's hard to see the bark. I didn't notice any fuzzy acorn caps but I will look harder.

 

[John P.]

Yeah, oaks are very promiscuous. Neve really know what’s going on around here.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Dormant buds, acorns also diagnostic. Measurements of acorns needed for this. Also measurements of average leaves. Sometimes bark of mature tree helps. Had Cork Oak and trees leaves NOT Cork Oak.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Dear oaxperts, I'm back with more to add. I grabbed a small branch with leaves and acorns.

The leaves are longer than coast live oak and only some are serrated. The serrated ones have no spikey points like coast live oak. I'll be busy on google for a bit trying to figure this out.

What they heck is it?

 

[Wulfskaar]

My best guess so far....

Quercus parvula var. shrevei
Shreve Oak

-or-

Quercus parvula var. parvula
Santa Cruz Island Oak

https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=76907

https://slconservancy.org/2021/10/26/how-to-identify-the-5-oak-species-of-the-santa-lucia-preserve/

 

[Wulfskaar]

I'm 95% sure this is Shreve Oak (Quercus parvula var. shrevei)!

 

[BrianBay9]

I've given up trying to identify any of the California red oaks. They all hybridize, and they pretty much all seem to behave the same way. So....I call them a coast live oak type of oak. Some have red buds, some have green. Larger leaves or smaller, oval or elongate. There seems to be a broad continuum of phenotypes due to hybridization. I'm trying to find the individuals with small leaves and mature (rough) bark early in their development.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I've given up trying to identify any of the California red oaks. They all hybridize, and they pretty much all seem to behave the same way. So....I call them a coast live oak type of oak. Some have red buds, some have green. Larger leaves or smaller, oval or elongate. There seems to be a broad continuum of phenotypes due to hybridization. I'm trying to find the individuals with small leaves and mature (rough) bark early in their development.

I've been reading up on some of that.

In my reading, I found that Santa Cruz Island Oak (which is cool for certain reasons) is likely a cross between Shreve Oak and Interior Live Oak.

Either way, the Shreve Oak is fairly uncommon, so I'm happy to try growing some.

 

[BrianBay9]

I've been reading up on some of that.

In my reading, I found that Santa Cruz Island Oak (which is cool for certain reasons) is likely a cross between Shreve Oak and Interior Live Oak.

Either way, the Shreve Oak is fairly uncommon, so I'm happy to try growing some.

Just remember the acorns may produce something different than the mature tree you're looking at. Depends on who's pollinating.....

 

[Wulfskaar]

Just remember the acorns may produce something different than the mature tree you're looking at. Depends on who's pollinating.....

I can't wait to see what pops out of the soil!

This is so interesting to me. There are several of these in a row, but also there are coast live oaks close by. One thing I read is that the Shreve Oak is slightly delayed in it's reproductive cycle, which may make it harder to cross with Coast Live Oaks. Either way, I eagerly await!