Quercus wislizeni var. frutescens

Bush interior live oak

Family: Fagaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Bush interior live oak is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Tehama County, Sutter Buttes, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, south Coast Ranges, and southwestern California in valleys and chaparral at elevations of 90 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small, inconspicuous greenish flowers typical of oak species. Growing as a dense, multi-stemmed shrub 1 to 3 meters tall with a spreading, rounded form, it develops a sturdy woody structure. Its leathery leaves are relatively small, measuring 1.8 to 4 centimeters long, with a dark green surface and thick texture characteristic of live oak species. In its shrub form, this oak provides important habitat and cover for wildlife in California's diverse landscapes.

Habitat: Valleys, chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 90-2000 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaRH, SNH, Teh, ScV (Sutter Buttes), SnJV, SnFrB, SCoR, SW (exc ChI)

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Riverside, San Diego, Tulare, Lake, Napa, Fresno, Monterey, Mendocino, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, Shasta, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Colusa, Tehama, Butte, Marin, Alameda, Solano, Sutter, Contra Costa, Madera, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, El Dorado, Trinity, San Mateo, Mariposa, Amador, Imperial, Yolo, Inyo

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