Quercus engelmannii
Common name: 
Engelmann Oak
Mesa Oak
Pronunciation: 
kwer-KUS en-gel-MAN-e-i
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Quercus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf evergreen tree, drought-deciduous, erect, to about 15-50 ft ( m), short trunk, spreading branches, in the open, a rounded crown and foliage reaching the ground.  Leaves alternate, simple, leathery, stiff, 2.5-7 cm long, oblong to obovate, tip and base rounded, margin entire, wavy or toothed, blue- or gray-green above, the lower surface is pale, bluish green, hairy when young, glabrous (without hairs) later; petiole 3-7 mm long.  Flowers, male (staminate) in slender hairy catkins 5-5.7 cm long; female (pistilate) on slender stalks.  Fruit (acorn) matures in 1 year, cup 6–-8 mm long, nut 15-25 mm long, oblong-cylindric to ovoid, tip rounded to obtuse, shell glabrous inside.
  • Sun.  Deep watering once a month during the dry season
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 8      Limited distribution, native to extreme southwestern California and northern Baja California.
  • engelmannii: after George (Georg) Engelmann(1809-1884), German born, both a prominent physician and botanist of St. Louis.  One of the original members of the National Academy of Sciences.
Click image to enlarge

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • leaves and young fruit, early June (S. Ruettgers)

    leaves and young fruit, early June (S. Ruettgers)

  • developing acorns, early August (S. Ruettgers)

    developing acorns, early August (S. Ruettgers)

  • fruit (acorns)

    fruit (acorns)

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark