Quercus geminata
| Sand live oak | |
|---|---|
| File:Quercus geminata (homeredwardprice).jpg | |
| Acorns and leaves of a sand live oak in Florida | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Fagaceae |
| Genus: | Quercus |
| Subgenus: | Quercus subg. Quercus |
| Section: | Quercus sect. Virentes |
| Species: | Q. geminata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Quercus geminata | |
| Synonyms[4] | |
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Quercus geminata, commonly called sand live oak, is an evergreen oak tree native to the coastal regions of the subtropical southeastern United States, along the Atlantic Coast from southern Florida northward to southeastern Virginia and along the Gulf Coast westward to southern Mississippi,[5] on seacoast dunes and on white sands in evergreen oak scrubs.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]Quercus geminata is placed in the southern live oaks section of the genus Quercus (section Virentes).[6]
Appearance
[edit | edit source]A small- to medium-sized tree, the sand live oak is scrubby and forms thickets. The bark is dark, thick, furrowed, and roughly ridged. The leaves are thick, leathery, and coarsely veined, with extremely revolute margins, giving them the appearance of inverted shallow bowls; their tops dark green, their bottoms dull gray and very tightly tomentose, and their petioles densely pubescent, they are simple and typically flat with bony-opaque margins, having a length of 2–12 centimetres (3⁄4–4+3⁄4 inches) and a width of 0.5–4 cm (1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in). The male flowers are green hanging catkins. The acorns are small, 1–2.5 cm, oblong-ellipsoid or ovoid, and are commonly born in pairs on peduncles of varying lengths.[2][3]
The Florida Native Plant Society describes the plant as "Extremely drought tolerant" and a long-lived perennial.[7]
Description
[edit | edit source]In coastal Florida's evergreen oak scrub, the sand live oak is a ubiquitous and abundant species; the threatened Florida scrub-jay is found only in Florida scrub.[8][9] Live oaks, having characteristics of the sand live oak and the southern live oak (Q. virginiana), grow further inland.[citation needed]
Hybrids
[edit | edit source]Hybridization is common among oaks, which thus creates uncertainty in the exact boundaries of species' ranges.[10] Hybrids have been documented between Q. geminata and Q. virginiana,[2] but the two pure species are genetically and morphologically distinct.[11] The Cuban oak, Q. sagraeana, has been purported to be a hybrid[12][13] between the sand live oak and Q. oleoides, but recent evidence argues that the Cuban oak is a distinct species without hybrid origin.[14]
References
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
- ^ [1] "FloriData — Quercus geminata", Retrieved 2011-07-06
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). "The University of Florida – School of Forest Resources & Conservation — Scrub", Retrieved 2011-07-08
- ^ [2] Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine "An Ecological Overview Of Scrub Habitat And Florida Scrub-Jays In Brevard County", Retrieved 2011-07-08
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External links
[edit | edit source]
- "Carolina Nature – Will Cook's Web Site" – close-up photographs
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