California Black Oak         KWER-kus kel-LOG-ee-I

• 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.