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| ## interior live oak {#interior-live-oak .Title-Header}               |
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| *Quercus wislizeni* A. DC.                                            |
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| Plant Symbol = QUWI2                                                  |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6972222222222224in" height="3.852777777777778in"}

#### Alternate Names

*Quercus parvula*, *Quercus shrevei*; dwarf interior live oak, scrub
interior live oak, Highland live oak Sierra live oak; this species is
recognized as having two varieties: Qu*ercus wislizeni* var.
*frutescens* and *Quercus* *wislizeni* var. *wislizeni*

#### Uses

*Wildlife Use*: Interior live oak provides important food and cover for
a wide variety of birds and mammals: black-tailed jackrabbit, Audubon
cottontail, brush rabbit, Beechy ground squirrel, Sonoma chipmunk,
beaver, porcupine, and elk. It is important for winter browse by
Columbian black-tailed deer. Acorns are a valuable food source for deer
and other wild ungulates, birds, and small mammals in the fall.

*Ethnobotanic*: After leaching away the bitter tannins, Native Americans
used the acorns of many oaks (*Quercus* spp.) for cooking oils, soups,
stews, or breads after leaching away the tannins. Interior live oak also
has a high value for fuel wood and is also used for landscaping.

#### 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

Interior live oak is a slow-growing, variable evergreen, which grows as
a large shrub or small tree. Plants may reach 30 to 75 feet in height or
assume a shrub-like growth form with heights of only 8 to 10 feet.
Leaves, which persist for 2 years, are mostly oblong-to-elliptic or
lanceolate, and spiny-toothed to entire. Both leaf surfaces are shiny
green but the upper surface is darker. Interior live oak is monoecious.
Male flowers are borne in catkins 1 to 3 inches in length, whereas
female flowers grow in clusters of two to four in the upper leaf
axils.![](media/image3.jpeg){width="2.798611111111111in"
height="2.1743055555555557in"}

*Distribution*: For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site. This plant is
native to California and Mexico. Interior live oak occurs from northern
California in Siskiyou and Shasta counties, south along the foothills of
the Sierra Nevada and inner Coast Ranges, plus the Channel Islands.
Adapted to the following zones in California: Douglas-fir, Ponderosa
pine, lodgepole pine, redwood, western hardwoods, and chaparral -
mountain shrub.

#### Establishment

*Adaptation*: This species is generally found on soils with a pH range
between 5.6 and 7.5, with depths of 20 to 40 inches. Interior live oak
grows particularly well on dry, shallow, well-drained loams, clay loams,
gravelly loams, or gravel. Interior live oak is tolerant of shade,
particularly when young. Interior live oak appears to be well-adapted to
persist with or without fire. For more information, consult the FEIS
database.

*Propagation/Regeneration*: Interior live oak regenerates vegetatively
after disturbance and also reproduces through seed. Cleaned acorns
average approximately 125 per pound (275/kg). Annual seed production
appears to be somewhat variable, although each interior live oak tree
generally produces good seed crops at 5- to 7-year intervals. Acorns
generally ripen after mid-August. Research indicates that the acorns of
interior live oak can germinate without exposure to low temperatures.
However, exposure to temperatures of 32 to 41° F can effectively
stratify seed and enhance germination.

#### Management

Interior live oak sprouts vigorously after fire or mechanical
disturbance.

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

Available from nurseries specializing in native plants within
California. 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

Barrett, S.W. 1980. *Indians and fire*. Western Wildlands 6(3):17-21.

Bartolome, J.W. 1987. *California annual grassland and oak savannah*.
Rangelands. 9(3):122-125.

Block, W.M. & M.L. Morrison 1990. *Wildlife diversity of the Central
Sierra foothills*. California Agriculture 44(2):19-22.

Brophy, W. 1973. *Evolution and ecology in Quercus: A study of
hybridization and introgression between Quercus agrifolia Nee. and Q.
wislizenii A. DC*. Thesis. California State University, Hayward,
California. 97 p.

Griffin, J.R. 1977. *Oak woodland*. pp. 383-415. IN: Barbour, M.G. & J.
Major, eds. *Terrestrial vegetation of California*. John Wiley and Sons,
New York, New York.

Myatt, R.G. 1980*. Canyon live oak vegetation in the Sierra Nevada*. pp.
86-91. IN: Plumb, T.R. technical coordinator. *Proceedings of the
symposium on the ecology, management and utilization of California
oaks*. 1979 June 26-28; Claremont, California. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-44.
USDA, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment
Station, Berkeley, California.

Plumb, T.R. & A.P. Gomez 1983. *Five southern California oaks:
Identification and postfire management*. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-71. USDA,
Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station,
Berkeley, California. 56 p.

USDA, Forest Service 1990. *Fire effects information system*. Version:
990928. \<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>. Prescribed Fire and
Fire Effects Research Work Unit, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Missoula, Montana.

USDA, NRCS 1999. *The PLANTS database*. Version: 990928.
\<http://plants.usda.gov\>. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.

Van Dersal, W.R. 1938. *Native woody plants of the United States, their
erosion-control and wildlife values*. USDA, Washington, D.C. 362 p.

#### Prepared By:

### *J. S. Peterson*, USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

#### Species Coordinator:

## *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Environmental Horticulture
Dept., Davis, California

Edited: 19jun02 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/)\>

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