Quercus kelloggii
Common name: 
California Black Oak
Pronunciation: 
KWER-kus kel-LOG-ee-I
Family: 
Fagaceae
Genus: 
Quercus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Deciduous tree, 40-80 ft (12-24 m), open, rounded crown, may be a shrub at high elevations, to 15 ft (4.5 m).  Bark dark gray or black, smooth on young trees and broad, irregularly plated ridges.   Leaves alternate, simple, 8-15 cm long, sharply cut into 7-11 lobes, which toothed, each tooth ending in a bristle, base often obtuse or wedge-shaped, upper surface glossy green, paler below, both surfaces of young leaves sometimes pubescent and dusty rose or soft pink, autumn color is yellow or yellow orange.  Fruit (acorn) 2-3.5 cm long, cup encloses about half the nut; acorns mature in the second year.
  • Sun or light shade.  Drought resistant, succeeds in dry, sandy, or gravelly soil.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native range from south central Oregon to southern California, on the west side of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, foothills and lower mountains.
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: small tree south of Peavy Hall and east of the service road.
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  • new leaves

    new leaves

  • catkins and expanding leaves

    catkins and expanding leaves

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • foliage

    foliage

  • leafy branches

    leafy branches

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • leaf, underside

    leaf, underside

  • developing acorns

    developing acorns

  • mature acorns

    mature acorns

  • branches, fall

    branches, fall

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall

  • leaf, fall

    leaf, fall

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • older trunks, bark

    older trunks, bark

  • twig, fall

    twig, fall

  • winter twigs, buds

    winter twigs, buds