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| ## coast live oak {#coast-live-oak .Title-Header}                     |
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| *Quercus agrifolia* Nee                                               |
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| Plant Symbol = QUAG                                                   |
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Contributed by: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden & USDA NRCS National Plant
Data Center

### 

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.998611111111111in"
height="2.2666666666666666in"}

J.S. Peterson

USDA NRCS NPDC

@ PLANTS

# Use

*Erosion:* Coast live oaks stabilize soil on slopes, provide an
organic-rich litter, and contribute to a habitat for a diversity of
insects, birds, and mammals.

*Wildlife*: Acorns are an important food source for birds, small
mammals, and deer. Deer may browse the young foliage.

*Ethnobotanic:* Native Americans used acorns as an important food staple
and early European colonists found that its wood made a superior
charcoal for use in a variety of industries, including baking and
preparing mortar.

*Landscape and beautification:* Coast live oak is an important element
in both natural and man-made landscapes, providing shade and an
aesthetic quality.

# Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

# Description

*General:* Oak Family (Fagaceae). Coast live oak, an evergreen tree 10
to 25 m tall, has a broad, dense crown and widely spreading branches.
The lower limbs of ungrazed trees often recline on the ground. Mature
bark is gray and shallowly furrowed. Leaves are oblong to oval, 2 to 6
cm in length, cupped, with entire to toothed margins. The upper surface
is strongly convex, deep green and smooth, but the lower surface is
paler, with hairy-tufted vein axils. Like all oaks, coast live oak is
monoecious and wind-pollinated. Acorn cups are composed of thin, flat
scales. The one-seeded nuts are 2 to 4 cm long, narrowly conical, and
mature in one year. On average, trees have high acorn production once
every 2 to 3 years. Flowering takes place from February to April. Fruits
mature between August and October.

*Distribution:* Coast live oak occurs in the coast ranges from north
central California southward to northern Baja California. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

# Establishment

*Adaptation*: It grows in well-drained soils on bluffs, gentle slopes,
and canyons, and can be found up to 1400 m in elevation. This species is
adapted to relatively warm, wet winters and dry summers moderated by fog
and cool temperatures, but does not occur where the ground freezes.
Although tolerant of various soil types, live oak prefers a deep loam.
Common associates include species of sumac, lemonade berry, and toyon.
Coast live oak is particularly well adapted to fire. Branches may
produce new shoots after having been lightly burned. Trunks exposed to
moderate fires often resprout from the base. Like most oaks, it has an
obligate relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, which provide critical
moisture and nutrients

*Propagation* *by seeds*: Oak seeds do not store well and consequently
seeds should be planted soon after maturity. Nuts are considered ripe
when they separate freely from the acorn cap and fall from the tree.
Care should be taken to collect local fruits, because they may be
adapted to local environmental conditions. Viable nuts are green to
brown and have unblemished walls. Nuts with discoloration or sticky
exudates, and small holes caused by insect larvae, should be discarded.

Propagation of coast live oak is highly successful by direct seeding at
the beginning of winter. Once a site is chosen, prepare holes that are
10 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 inches deep. One gram of a slow-release
fertilizer should be placed in the bottom and covered by a small amount
of soil. Place 6 to 10 acorns in each hole at a depth of 1 to 2 inches.
Temporary enclosures should be used to minimize herbivory by rodents or
birds. A simple enclosure can be constructed from a 1 quart plastic
dairy container with the bottom removed and a metal screen attached.
Near the end of the first season, seedlings should be thinned to 2 or 3
per hole and to 1 seedling by the second season. Supplemental watering
may be necessary if a drought of 6 weeks or more occurs during the
spring.

# *Container Planting*: Seeds may be planted in one-gallon containers, using well-drained potting soil that includes slow-release fertilizer. Tapered plastic planting tubes, with a volume of 10 cubic inches, also may be used. Seeds should be planted 1 to 2 inches deep and the soil kept moist. Seedlings should be transplanted as soon as the first true leaves mature. Planting holes should be at least twice as wide and deep as the container. Seedlings may require watering every 2 to 3 weeks during the first season. Care should be taken to weed and mulch around young plants until they are 6 to 10 inches tall.

# Management

Natural live oak regeneration from seeds tends to occur sporadically
during winters with above average precipitation that falls evenly
throughout the season. Seedlings are especially sensitive to trampling
and too herbivory by rodents, deer, and cattle. Common insects include
moth larvae and tent caterpillars. Mature trees are especially
susceptible to oak crown and root rot fungi (e.g., *Inonotus*,
*Ganoderma*, and *Laetiporus*) which decay wood in trunks and roots.
Activities that disturb or compact soil around trees, including
construction and livestock grazing need to be avoided or carefully
managed within the near the zone of leaf canopy. Summer irrigation near
oaks should also be avoided, especially in urban landscapes, because it
promotes oak root and crown rot. When desirable, mature trees consumed
by fires may be allowed to recover from stump sprouts if replanting on
large tracts is uneconomical.

# Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

It is best to plant species from your local area, adapted to the
specific site conditions where the plants are to be grown. This species
is available from most native plant nurseries within its range. Contact
your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

# References

Bleier, C. 1993. *A planner's guide for oak woodlands*. University of
California Press, Berkeley, California. 94 p.

Griffin, J. 1977. *Oak woodland*. Pages 383-415. IN M. Barbour and J.
Major (eds.). Terrestrial vegetation of California. Wiley Interscience,
New York, New York.

Pavlik, B.M., P.C. Muick, S. Johnson, & M. Popper 1991. *Oaks of
California.* Cachuma Press and the California Oak Foundation, Los
Olivos, California. 184 p.

Schettler, S. & M. Smith 1980. *Nursery propagation of California oaks*.
Pages 242-245. IN T. Plumb (ed.). Proceedings of the symposium on the
ecology, management, and utilization of California oaks. USDA, Forest
Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.
Technical Report 44.

# Prepared By and Species Coordinator

###### *Dieter Wilken* & *Julie Burgher*

## Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, California

Email: dwilken@sbbg.org

Edited 18sep00 jsp; 29may03 ahv; 060809 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

*The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in
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orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
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large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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