Quercus agrifolia
Coast live oak, encina, Encina
Photo by Chez Brungraber
Family: Fagaceae · Type: Shrub / Tree · Native
Quercus agrifolia (Coast live oak) is a native California shrub / tree in the Fagaceae family.
Coast live oak is a native evergreen tree found throughout coastal California in woodlands, chaparral, and mixed evergreen forests at elevations from sea level to 1,500 meters. Flowering in spring, this tree produces inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers characteristic of oak species. Growing to heights of 10 to 25 meters with a wide, spreading canopy and deeply furrowed gray bark that becomes checkered with age, it develops a distinctive broad and rounded crown. Its leaves are widely elliptic to round, 2.5 to 6 centimeters long, with a dull green upper surface and a pale green lower surface, featuring rounded or slightly spine-toothed edges that often curl underneath. The tree produces acorns with cups 10 to 16 millimeters wide, which mature within a single year and are enclosed in woolly shells.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 0 sympatric species - geographically isolated.
Habitat and range
California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Ventura, San Benito, San Diego, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, Sonoma, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Marin, Napa, Contra Costa, Kern, San Bernardino, Mendocino, San Mateo, Sacramento, Tuolumne, Fresno, San Joaquin, Solano, Tulare, Yolo, Lake, Del Norte
How to tell it apart
vs Prunus: Quercus has acorns in cups; cherries/plums have fleshy round fruits.; vs Notholithocarpus: Quercus has drooping catkins; tanoak has upright flower spikes.; vs Rhamnus: Quercus has acorns; buckthorns have berry-like fruits.; vs Ceanothus: Quercus has acorns; California lilacs have small capsule fruits.; vs Platanus: Quercus has acorns; sycamores have hanging ball-shaped seed clusters.
Frequently asked questions
Is Quercus agrifolia native to California?
Yes. Quercus agrifolia is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Quercus agrifolia grow?
Quercus agrifolia occurs in Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Ventura, San Benito, San Diego, Monterey and other counties.
What plant family does Quercus agrifolia belong to?
Quercus agrifolia is in the Fagaceae family, genus Quercus.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.