Quercus agrifolia Née

California ; Mexico (Baja California) ; from sea level to 900 m ; introduced in Europe in 1849 by Hartweg ;

can reach 25 m high, but more often shrubby, with prostrate twigs; spreading and rounded crown; trunk often divided from the base;

2.5 to 7 cm long, 1.2 to 4 cm wide; evergreen; thick; elliptic, oval or oblong, sometimes almost rounded; most often convex above; apex obtuse or slightly acute; base rounded or remotely cordate; margin with spiny teeth, rarely entire ; dark lustrous green and glabrous above, paler beneath with some axillary tufts of stellate trichomes; slightly pubescent petiole, 0.5 to 1.5 cm long;

small catkins, 3-6 cm long; on hairy pedicel in first spring;

sessile acorns 2.5-3.5 cm long; paired or most often solitary; elongated and pointed; enclosed for 1/4 or 1/3 of length in a 1.5-2 cm long, shallow cupule with thin, pointed, imbricated scales; scales with free, purplish margins; inner surface of nut shell downy; maturing in 1 year; edible;

– A. Camus : n° 297; – Sub-genus Quercus, section Lobatae, sub-section Agrifoliae; – Rare in cultivation; – Resembles Q.ilex ; looks also like Q.wislizeni and Q.parvula but the two latter have flat or weakly convex blade leaves, and not any hair beneath; – Hybridizes with Q.wislizeni and Q.kelloggii (see x ganderi );