Shrub oak facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shrub oak |
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Quercus
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| Species: |
turbinella
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Quercus turbinella is a type of oak tree or shrub found in North America. People call it by many names, like shrub oak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak.
This plant grows naturally in the western United States. You can find it in states like Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada. It also grows in northern Mexico.
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Where Turbinella Oaks Grow
The turbinella oak lives in many places across the western United States. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and parts of California and Texas. You can also see it in Baja California, Mexico.
This oak likes to grow in different kinds of areas. These include woodlands, chaparral (a type of shrubland), and forests. It is very common in the chaparral areas of central Arizona. It also grows in the "sky island" mountains of southeast Arizona.
What Turbinella Oaks Look Like
The turbinella oak is usually a shrub. It grows about 2 to 5 meters (6.5 to 16 feet) tall. Sometimes, it can grow taller and look more like a small tree, reaching over 6 meters (20 feet).
Branches and Leaves
The branches of this oak are gray or brown. When they are young, the twigs might have soft, woolly hairs. As they get older, they become scaly.
The leaves are thick and feel like leather. They stay green all year, so they are called evergreen leaves. Each leaf is about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) long and 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) wide. The edges of the leaves have sharp, spine-tipped teeth.
The top side of the leaves is gray-green or yellowish and feels waxy. The bottom side is yellowish and can be hairy or woolly.
Flowers and Acorns
The male flowers of the turbinella oak look like yellowish-green strings called catkins. The female flowers grow in short spikes near the leaves. Both types of flowers appear when new leaves start to grow.
The fruit of the oak is an acorn. It is yellowish-brown and can be up to 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) long. The acorn sits in a shallow, bumpy cup that is about 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) wide.
How Turbinella Oaks Reproduce
Turbinella oaks can reproduce in two main ways. They can grow from their acorns if there is enough moisture. This is called sexual reproduction.
More often, they reproduce by growing new shoots from their rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground stems. They can also sprout from the base of their trunk, called the root crown. This is a type of vegetative reproduction.
Oak Hybrids and Wildlife
The turbinella oak can easily mix with other oak species. This creates new kinds of oaks called hybrids. Some oaks it can hybridize with include Quercus gambelii and Quercus arizonica.
Many animals use the turbinella oak for food. Wild animals and farm animals like ungulates (hoofed animals) eat its leaves. Many birds and mammals enjoy eating the acorns.
Animals also use the thick bushes of the turbinella oak for shelter. For example, mountain lions sometimes hide their prey in these dense thickets.
See also
In Spanish: Quercus turbinella para niños
