Quercus garryana
Common name: 
Oregon White Oak
Garry Oak
Pronunciation: 
KWER-kus gar-RI-ana
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Deciduous tree, 40-90 ft (12-27 m), broad spreading, rounded crown, rugged, heavy ascending, crooked branches, often shrubby when young (less than 25 years).  Leaves alternate, simple, 5-15 cm long, dark green, round lobed, autumn color is saddle brown, occasionally tinted gold or dull red.  Fruit (acorn) with a short stalk or sessile, ovate, smooth, 2.5.-3 cm long, apex rounded, murcronate (small, sharp point), about 1/3 enclosed by the shallow cup; ripens the first year.
  • Sun, likes dry soil in summer, deep tap root, summer watering can cause root rot, therefore not suitable in an irrigated lawn.  Good shelter for rhododendrons.  Leaves are susceptible to insect induced galls.  Like many other oaks, they also occasionally form large galls, as wide as 5 cm or more.  These so-called 'oak apples' are in response to the placement of the eggs of a specific wasp on the midrib of leaves.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 6      Native to western British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northwestern California.
  • garryana: named by David Douglas to honor Nicholas Garry, director, and later deputy governor, of the Hudson's Bay Company; Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, Canada.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: grove of old trees south of Dryden Hall on 35th S, younger tree on the west side of the 30th St. "parkway" east of the grove.
Click image to enlarge
  • in habitat, spring

    in habitat, spring

  • branch, spring

    branch, spring

  • male catkins and expanding leaves

    male catkins and expanding leaves

  • female flowers

    female flowers

  • in habitat, oak savanna

    in habitat, oak savanna

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • acorn development

    acorn development

  • ripening acorns

    ripening acorns

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall

  • acorns and leaf, fall

    acorns and leaf, fall

  • trunks in a landscape

    trunks in a landscape

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • trunk, bark of very old tree

    trunk, bark of very old tree

  • plant habit, winter

    plant habit, winter

  • winter twigs, buds

    winter twigs, buds