Arizona white oak is a large, slow-growing evergreen oak native to the mountains of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, grown as a shade tree in dry, rocky sites. Its key to growing it is well-drained, lean soil, sun or part shade, and little water once established.
Family
Fagaceae (Beech & oak family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry between waterings once established.
Soil
Well-drained, rocky or sandy soil; clay loam or medium loam also tolerated.
Temperature
Tolerates both heat and cold; protect young trees from hard frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Arizona to W. Texas and N. Mexico
Climate
subtropical
About
Quercus arizonica, the Arizona white oak, is a North American tree species in the beech family. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, and Durango.
Where it grows
The Arizona white oak can be found in a vast array of habitats such as savannas, grasslands, and chaparrals. They are usually found in mountain-like areas that are above about 5,495 ft (1,675 m) in elevation. Water use is low and it requires sun or part shade. Soil moisture must be dry and it must be rocky or sandy soils. Soils may be clay loam, clay, medium loam, or rocky. The Arizona white oak is both heat and cold tolerant.
Uses
The wood is usually used for fuel. Since the wood of the Arizona white oak is hard, heavy, and strong, it is rarely used for commercial reasons such as furniture production.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus arizonica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.