Quercus dumosa Nutt.

California ; Mexico (North of Baja California); from Pacific coasts to 300 m ;

not exceeding 3 m; crown rounded, as if pruned; branches stiff;

1-2.5 x 0.6-1.5 cm; semi-evergreen, stiff, thick; elliptic or oblong, sometimees nearly rounded; apex pointed, or round with a pungent mucro; base rounded to sometimes cuneate; margins wavy, entire or with mostly 3-9 shallow lobes or teeth (if present, the teeth are sometimes spiny); shiny green, nearly hairless above ; pale and densely pubescent beneath, with stellate trichomes showing large tangled rays visible without lens; 3 to 6 veins pairs hardly visible; petiole 1-4 mm;

March to April;

acorn 1.2-2.5 cm; narrowly ovoid, elongated, pointed, enclosed 1/3 or 1/4 by cup; cup subsessile (to 3 mm long stalk), with scales flat or sometimes tuberculate near the base; matures in 1 year; kernel very bitter but edible;

– Sub-genus Quercus, Section Quercus, Subsection Dumosae; – A. Camus n° 176; – Threatened (IUCN Red List Category : EN). – Hybrids with Q.lobata and Q.engelmannii are put together under the name Q.x kinseliae ; – The term “ Q.dumosa “ has been applied to almost all the scrubby oaks of California; but 5 species have been separated as true species : Q.turbinella , Q.john-tuckeri , Q.cornelius-mulleri , Q.berberidifolia and Q.pacifica ; the “true” Q.dumosa is a quite rare species, restricted to low elevations; it differs from other scubby oaks essentially in having large, visible hairs on the leaves undersides.