Chrysolepis chrysophylla

Giant chinquapin

Family: Fagaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Giant chinquapin is a California native shrub found in western mountain ranges, typically growing in mixed conifer and oak woodlands at elevations of 300 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces creamy white to yellow flowers in small clusters. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 30 meters tall with a distinctive conic top, it develops a thick, rough, deeply furrowed bark. Its leaves are dark green on top and golden underneath, measuring 5 to 15 centimeters long, with a tapered base and an abruptly long-pointed tip. The fruit is a spiny bur 3 to 5 centimeters in diameter, containing a single nut 6 to 15 millimeters long.

California counties: Marin, Humboldt, San Mateo, Monterey, Mendocino, Trinity, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Alameda, El Dorado, Plumas, Del Norte, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Napa, Lake, Sierra, Contra Costa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.