The "Great Oaks Appreciation" thread...

[ChrisA]

Here is a gorgeous oak from Baja California Sur that I believe is Q. tuberculata. March 2024:

 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, ChrisA said:

Here is a gorgeous oak from Baja California Sur that I believe is Q. tuberculata. March 2024:

 

Not easy to pick out but, looking closely at the first shot, you can see both silvery -colored undersides to the leaves.  Look fairly narrow as well.  ...makes me think that might actually be Q. brandegeei  rather than Q. tuberculata  ( = Generally wider leaves w/ no silver-y colored undersides. )



Q. brandegeei:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/282413-Quercus-brandegeei/browse_photos


Q. tuberculata:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/282411-Quercus-tuberculata/browse_photos


Great find regardless..

[Meangreen94z]

I promised Nathan (Silas) years ago to document the oaks at John Fairey Garden(Peckerwood). Here are a few:

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[JeskiM]

@ChrisA

I talked to my next door neighbor from the old house.  She told me that the owner cut it down, along with a lot of other stuff in the backyard.

The tree was gone a few years before palmageddon.

- Matt

[ChrisA]

1 hour ago, JeskiM said:

@ChrisA

I talked to my next door neighbor from the old house.  She told me that the owner cut it down, along with a lot of other stuff in the backyard.

The tree was gone a few years before palmageddon.

- Matt

Man, that’s a bummer.  Sorry to hear.  I get too attached to trees and there are so many I’ve enjoyed over the years only to one day see them callously removed. 80 years, gone in a few days… Even maw nature! Had a huge ponderosa pine in NM that I used to camp near and would go visit when i could.  Those mountains had a bad fire and wouldn’t you know when I got back up there the tree had been burnt to a crisp.  The fire line stopped about 50 feet away, but that awesome tree was a goner.

[Silas_Sancona]

Interesting discovery connecting not only Oaks, Ants, and Wasps ..but also unveiling a new twist on how evolutionary connections between plants and insects work.

Yet another reason to ditch the false faith of a quick fix to insect phobia  ..Aka: Pesticides...

All made ..by an 8 year old.. 

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/boys-discovery-reveals-highly-complex-plant-insect-interaction

[Meangreen94z]

The rare Quercus hinckleyi growing at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center . It only grows within Big Bend Ranch State Park, below the Chinati Mountains of West Texas , and supposedly  somewhere in Mexico.

[FosterDog]

New member here.  I am trying to grow palms but have dozens of oaks (and some maple trees).  Spring, Summer, and Winter pictures.

[Meangreen94z]

Quercus oblongifolia “Mexican Blue Oak” in older Austin neighborhood.

[Meangreen94z]

Quercus grisea in the Davis Mountains of West Texas.

[Meangreen94z]

Quercus robusta in the Chisos Mountains (Big Bend National Park)

[Meangreen94z]

Quercus hypoleucoides . Davis Mountains , Texas 

[amh]

Nothing special, but here is an interesting photo of acorns from the various live oaks in my yard. This is a hybrid swarm area and the acorns and trees all exhibit varying characteristics of Quercus virginiana and Quercus fusiformis.

[Hu Palmeras]

5 minutes ago, amh said:

Nada especial, pero aquí hay una foto interesante de bellotas de varios robles vivos de mi jardín. Esta es una zona de enjambre híbrido, y tanto las bellotas como los árboles presentan características variables de  Quercus virginiana y  Quercus fusiformis .

Very cool my Friend

[amh]

15 minutes ago, Hu Palmeras said:

Very cool my Friend

I try to keep my yard as wild as possible, so I am always finding something new.

[amh]

Could anyone identify this oak? It was growing in Kerr county, just south east of Kerrville.

[Silas_Sancona]

50 minutes ago, amh said:

Could anyone identify this oak? It was growing in Kerr county, just south east of Kerrville.

No shots of individual leaves / bunch of em'  eyh?

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

I don't have pictures but about 25 years ago there was a larger property in Morehead city, N.C. ,on the coast, where there were about 6 huge southern live oaks, very noticeable and spectacular as you came into the city.  A convenience store chain bought the land and cut all of them down to place the store, which they did not have to do as there was room for it to fit in. I vowed to never spend a penny at that store. One time a few years later I was passing by and ran out of gas and as the road is curbed had no where to pull off except there. I coasted into position at one of the gas pumps and bought $1.00 of gas! When I left I drove a 1/4 mile farther and filled my tank at another store. And no I have never spent money there again.

[Hu Palmeras]

Well done, my friend Jeff. You've been a great man and gentleman in this world. Things have to be felt, and that's called love. And we work with living beings. The plant kingdom is made up of living beings.

[JeskiM]

22 hours ago, amh said:

Could anyone identify this oak? It was growing in Kerr county, just south east of Kerrville.

That's Bigelow Oak (Quercus sinuata var. Breviloba).

They are scattered all around the hill country. If they get a lot water they form a nice single trunk specimen. If they have water stress, the same tree could end up growing into a motte and stay low to the ground. I have a 15 footer on the back slope of my property that formed a dense motte/thicket after our drought in 2011.

-Matt

 

[Hu Palmeras]

nice oak

[Meangreen94z]

On 10/5/2024 at 9:44 AM, ChrisA said:

That’s cool that Barton Springs used to carry them. Too bad it seems they’ve steered more towards the regularly available plants over the last few years. You should check your old house in street view to see if it made it through 2021. This one in SATX lost every leaf,  but came back fine.

 

Here is another wonderful oak that is perfect for smaller yards/projects, a Texas native, Lacey Oak.

 

 

There are Quercus germana at John Fairey Garden and Stephen F Austin University that survived 2021

[amh]

On 10/5/2025 at 6:26 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

No shots of individual leaves / bunch of em'  eyh?

The photos are from about 8 years ago, but here is a cropped shot of the emerging leaves.

23 hours ago, JeskiM said:

That's Bigelow Oak (Quercus sinuata var. Breviloba).

They are scattered all around the hill country. If they get a lot water they form a nice single trunk specimen. If they have water stress, the same tree could end up growing into a motte and stay low to the ground. I have a 15 footer on the back slope of my property that formed a dense motte/thicket after our drought in 2011.

-Matt

 

Thanks, I was leaning towards Bigelow when I attempted to identify the tree in the past, but I was not sure.

The tree is/was growing in a private cemetery on top of a hill. It has been so dry in the area that I do not know if the tree is still alive.

[JeskiM]

That picture cinches it.  That's definitely Bigelow oak. The leaves, bark, and sprouts are spot on with all the specimens I've seen.

Two other common names are:

Bastard oak

Durand oak

- Matt