Leather Oak (Quercus durata) Login         


        Description
  • Height 3 - 12 ft.
  • CA Bloom Apr - May
  • Leather oak is a shrub that does well in poor soils and dry conditions.
  • Leathery leaves are hairy and spiny.
  • It's often found with manzanita in serpentine chaparral.
  • CA native. Found only in California.
  • Beech Family (Fagaceae)



Leaves are tough and leathery, curled under, and have spiny teeth on the margins.



Leather Oak is a dense leafy shrub, and is often found serpentine chaparral.


Leaves are covered in hair. Acorn caps are bumpy and rough.

   Photo Gallery (68 ) click any picture to enlarge
    

Leather Oak is generally found on [[serpentine]] soil, often near manzanitas, in [[chaparral]] of the coast ranges. [[Evergreen]] leaves grow close ...
Leaves are leathery and roll under at the edges. Margins are toothed and have spines.
Leaves are hairy on their stalks and on both sides. Acorns form on new growth, and mature in one season.
Male flowers appear on drooping [[catkins]]. They release thousands of pollen spores to the wind, some of which find their way to small female flow ...
Acorns mature in the same season the female flower was pollinated, so they grow from [[leaf axils]] near the tip of the branch. They have a rough, ...