31)+Blue+Oak

=Blue Oak=

//Quercus douglasii//

Hook and Arn. (Literally means blue oak)

Family: Fagaceae

media type="file" key="Blue Oak BLues.mp3" Blue Oak Blues I got bark that’s gray Grow 60 feet tall I’m Dieocious Baby That’s not all I got the Blue Oak Blues Hardiness Zones 3-9 And if you wondering where to find me I’ll be in the sun most of the time I’m a Blue Oak Oh Quercus Douglassii I need 15-30 cm of rainfall Oh baby Oh my my Class: || [|Magnoliopsida] || Order: || [|Fagales] || Family: || [|Fagaceae] || Genus: || //[|Quercus]// || I’m a seed plant Born and raised conifer Have you met my lady? She’s a douglass fir I’m a Blue Oak Oh Quercus Douglassii I need 15-30 cm of rainfall Oh baby Oh my my


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Classification:
It is a seed plant (conifer)

Dicot and Diecious

Family characteristics:
Petal and Sepal Number:

Stamen Number:

Bark: The bark of the blue oak has a slight light grey tint to it and can hold in a lot of water. The bark is also quite thick to reduce damage caused by fires, because the blue oak tends to thrive in arid conditions where fires are very prevalent.

Leaves: The leaves of the quercus douglassi are quite simple and are arranged in a simple alternate pattern on the branch. The leaves themselves are around 1-3 inches (2.2 cm-6.5 cm). The pattern is wavy with seven little curves. The anterior side of the leaves tend to have a blue green shade, hence the name blue oak, and the posterior side have a more yellow greenish tint. The whole leave is coated by a waxy substance which allows the plant to maintain its water supply for a long time, allowing it to go for long periods of time (Summer) without water.

Its acorn take only a year to mature and are slighly oval, long and thin.

Roots: The blue oak has a very intricate and complicated root system. It has fibrous roots that can go through rocks and go down almost 25 meters in search of water.

It is Woody!

Size:
Grows to be anywhere between 6-20 meters.

Identifying features:
 à Flower : The flowers of the blue oak are pretty small and yellow and born upon catkins. They are also inconspicuous.

à Bark: The Bark of the Blue Oak is thick and has many medium to almost large size cracks going up vertically. The bark is a light gray and with enough light on a sunny day seems to almost glow and appears white. The bark currently has quite a bit of moss on it, probably due do the recent durastic amount of rainfall the area has received. à 4 images that show: bark, leaf, reproductive part, whole plant à Description of surrounding area including 2-3 other species and impact plant has on area – nice feature, annoyance…? The Blue Oak provides shade for many of the local plants, although the one I'm currently looking at on campus is sort of isolated from other species. It really provides an aesthetically pleasing feel to the area and building next to it and draws attention away from the three fire hydrants surrounding it. It really lets an observer focus on the natural beauty of the area as opposed to noticing all the construction that was done.

Location/Habitat:
The Blue Oak's optimal hardiness zones are 3-9.

In Davis the Blue Oak is in great conditions and therefore is thriving. There are many Blue Oaks around campus and is getting adequate water. This year it is getting a lot of water which might make it more suseciptible to disease and pests.

There are various pests and diseases associated with the Blue Oak including, but not limited to, // Armillaria (a fungus) and Inonotus andersonii. // Some of the pests include aphides, mites, mealybugs, mayflies and scale insects.



Water/Sun Requirements:
Blue Oaks can survive in both sun and shade, although they do prefer a mixture of both. They have a high sun tolerance because of their bark and leaves and therefore can withstand long periods of time without water. In optimal moist soil in can grow pretty high, about 60 feet. Because of a waxy substance on the leave surface its fine with only 15-30 inches of rain a year.

Reproduction:
Theses acorns drop right under the canopy of the blue oak, they cannot survive for more than a year and therefore depend on the protection of the tree. Blue Oak is diecious which means that it has two houses, a female plant and a male plant which fertilizes the female plant. They flower in the spring (late March to early May) and the acorns (which weight 2-12 grams) can surive one season.. Fruits are acorns. Nuts are brown, egg shaped and 2cm. Acorn cups are saucer shaped enclose the base of the nut. They can also reproduce vegetively.

Sources:
http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_qudo.pdf __ [] __ [] []

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Created by: Ignacio Mendez-Nunez