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Interior live oak

Quercus wislizeni

Also called Bush Interior Live Oak, Chaparral Oak, Sierra Live Oak

Interior live oak
Photo: Benny White, CC BY-SA 3.0

Interior live oak is an evergreen oak native to western North America, usually a large shrub or small tree, and it is not a common houseplant. Its care needs are those of a hardy outdoor tree in a warm, dry climate.

Family
Fagaceae (Beech & oak family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently once established; it tolerates summer drought.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerant of poor or rocky ground.
Temperature
Hardy outdoors in mild climates; protect young trees from hard frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
California to Mexico (N. Baja California Norte)
Climate
subtropical

About

Quercus wislizeni, known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in western North America.

Where it grows

Q. wislizeni is found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It generally occurs in foothills, being most abundant in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, but also widespread in the Pacific Coast Ranges—where since 1980 it has been known as a separate species Quercus parvula—and the San Gabriel Mountains.

Other Quercus plants

Quercus affinis · Coast Live Oak · White Oak · Golden Oak · Scrub oak · Brant's oak · Turkey Oak · Canyon Live Oak · Scarlet Oak · Daimyo oak · Blue oak · Leather oak

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus wislizeni 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.

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