Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia

California live oak

Family: Fagaceae · Type: tree · Native

California live oak is a native tree found in northern coastal, central valley, central western, and southwestern California bioregions in valleys, slopes, mixed-evergreen forest, and woodland at elevations below 1,440 meters. Flowering from mid-January to April, this tree produces small, inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers in drooping catkins. Growing to heights of 10 to 25 meters with a broad, spreading canopy, it develops a massive, gnarled trunk with deeply furrowed bark. Its leathery evergreen leaves are dark green above, with sparse hairs underneath, particularly notable for hair tufts in the vein axils. The tree produces acorns that were an important traditional food source for indigenous California peoples.

Habitat: Valleys, slopes, mixed-evergreen forest, woodland

Bloom period: Mid Jan-Apr

Elevation: < 1440 m

Bioregions: NCoRO, NCoRI, ScV, CW, SW

California counties: Ventura, San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Napa, San Luis Obispo, Orange, San Benito, Lake, Monterey, Alameda, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Siskiyou, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Sacramento, Mendocino, Solano

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