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Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Trees Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Oak thicket (dark green trees in canyon)

General: Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella) is a medium-sized, many branched subtree with acorns and small, stiff leaves with pointed lobes and sharp spines on the tip of each lobe. Compare with the leaves of Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii).

Shrub Live Oak is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in rocky canyons and middle-elevation washes and slopes in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) and Transition (Yellow Pine Forest) life zones. Where it occurs, however, it generally occurs in dense thickets.

Family: Oak (Fagaceae).

Other Names: scrub oak, live oak, Sonoran scrub oak.

Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Ripe acorns

Plant Form: Many branched, evergreen tree or subtree.

Height: 6 to 15 feet (to 20 feet)

Bark: Gray to brown.

Leaves: Small (1 inch), oblong, stiff leaves with pointed lobes and sharp spines at the tip of each lobe. Upper surface gray-green; lower surface with yellowish hairs.

Flowers: Flowers produced in the spring. Staminate inflorescence is a catkin. Pistillate flowers inconspicuous, but later produce acorns.

Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Stiff leaves with sharp spines

Seeds: Acorns. Fruit green, maturing to brown in 1 year. Caps remain attached to stems long after the acorns drop. The inside of the cap is smooth. Fruits mature in summer and fall of the year they emerge (no overwintering acorns).

Habitat: Rocky canyons and slopes in middle-elevation mountains.

Elevation: 4,000 to 6,500 feet.

Distribution: Southwestern U.S. and Baja California.

Comments: Shrub oaks hybridize, sometimes making exact identification difficult. Acorns are important food for many species of wildlife, including deer, mice, and birds.

Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak in canyon
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Hikers in cliffs with Shrub Live Oak
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak along rocky creek
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak along rocky creek
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Trunk bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Trunk bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Trunk bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Major branch bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Stem bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Stem bark
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Fresh leaves in the spring
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Fresh leaves in the spring
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Mature leaves
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Mature leaves
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Mature leaves
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Mature leaves
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Leaf, dorsal surface
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Leaf, ventral surface hairy
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Evergreen, but leaves die
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Evergreen, but leaves die
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Ripe male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Ripe male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Male flowers and young female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Young female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Young female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Young female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Young female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Developing female acorns
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Ripening acorn
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Ripening acorn
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Mature acorn
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
One ripening acorn and one mature acorn
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella) Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella) Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak acorn caps are smooth inside
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak acorn caps are smooth inside
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella) Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Insect hole in acorn
Shrub Live Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Insect hole in acorn

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 220815

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