Quercus ilex

Holly oak

Family: Fagaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Holly oak is a naturalized tree found in southwestern California on canyon slopes and washes near developments at elevations of 50 to 400 meters. Flowering from May to August, this evergreen produces small greenish flowers in subtle clusters. Growing to 20 meters tall with a distinctive gray-black trunk that breaks into small plates and dense gray-brown woolly branches, the tree has a robust, spreading form. Its leathery leaves are lanceolate to ovate, 3 to 8 centimeters long, with a glossy dark green upper surface and a woolly yellowish-white underside, featuring margins that are entire or lightly spine-toothed. The acorn cup is thin and top-shaped, 7 to 15 millimeters wide, containing an ovoid nut 15 to 25 millimeters long.

Habitat: Escaped from cultivation, canyon slopes, washes near developments

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 50-400 m

Bioregions: SW

California counties: Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Orange, Solano, Butte, Contra Costa, Sacramento, Yolo, Santa Clara

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