Quercus agrifolia
Common name: 
Coast Live Oak
Pronunciation: 
KWER-kus ag-ri-FOL-ia
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Quercus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf, evergreen tree, to 30-80 ft (9-24 m) tall, often with a greater spread, broadly rounded form, dense foliage, short trunk, may have a shruby form in chaparral habitat.  Bark dark gray or brown, smooth at first, finally thick, deeply furrowed.  Leaves simple, alternate, oblong to oval, 2-6 cm long and 1.2-4 cm wide, thick, leathery, rounded or heart-shaped at base, tip rounded, margins turned under and bearing spiny teeth (holly-like), glossy green above, below pale green, and with tufts of hair in the axils close to the petiole.  Fruit (acorn), nut is brown, narrowly egg-shaped, 2.5-4 cm long, about a fourth enclosed by a thin cup.
  • Sun or shade.  Drops most of its old leaves in spring.  Sometimes sheared to form a 10 ft hedge.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 8      Native mostly to the coast side of California's Coast Range, and along streams draining into the Central Valley, ranges from the Mendocino County in the north to Mexico's Baja California.
  • Oregon State University campus: Lower Campus, east of 11th St. along Monroe Ave.
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  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • plant habit (Steven Ruettgers)

    plant habit (Steven Ruettgers)

  • foliage

    foliage

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • leaf, shade

    leaf, shade

  • shoot with developing acorns

    shoot with developing acorns

  • developing acorns

    developing acorns

  • developing acorns

    developing acorns

  • trunks, bark

    trunks, bark