Kingdom Plantae Family Fagaceae Scientific name Quercus john-tuckeri Rank Species | Order Fagales Genus Quercus Higher classification Oak | |
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Similar Oak, Quercus cornelius‑mulleri, Quercus boyntonii, Quercus hinckleyi, Quercus vaseyana | ||
Quercus john-tuckeri is a North American species of oak known by the common name Tucker oak, or Tucker's oak. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and oak woodlands of mountain slopes in the western Transverse Ranges, the southernmost Central Coast Ranges, and the margins of the Mojave Desert. The species is named after John M. Tucker, professor of botany (1947-1986) at the University of California at Davis, specialist in Quercus.
Description
Quercus john-tuckeri is a bushy shrub growing up to 2 to 5 meters (80-200 inches or 6.7-16.7 feet) in height, sometimes becoming treelike, exceeding six meters (20 feet). The branches are gray or brown, the twigs coated in short woolly fibers when new and becoming scaly with age. The evergreen leaves are leathery and thick, sometimes brittle. They are gray-green, the lower surface slightly paler. The undersides are hairy, the upper surfaces somewhat less so. The leaf blade is roughly oval, spine-toothed, and less than 4 centimeters (1.6 inches)long. The fruit is an acorn with a thin cap 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4-0.6 inch) wide and a nut 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8-1.2 inches) long.