Plant Description
Upright form with a short trunk and a spreading, irregular rounded crown of stout, twisted branches. Largest southwestern oak. New leaves emerge when old leaves drop in May.
Thick, leathery, stiff, narrowly ovate to oblong, strongly netted green leaves, may have shallowly lobed and sharp pointed leaf margins; bark is whitish on mature specimens (hence the name); shrub or a tree. Acorns on short stems.
Habitat
Chaparral, oak and pinyon woodlands, particularly along canyons. Found on dry rocky slopes in Arizona.
Leaves
Oval to oblong, 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches long. Thick and stiff with slightly wavy margins. Toothed toward apex. Upper surface is a dull green with sunken veins. Lower surface has a lighter color with short, dense, fuzzy brown hairs and raised veins.
Flowers
Wind pollinated flowers with reduced petals. Males in long dense catkins, yellow. Females catkins of 2 to 6 flowers.
Fruit
Oblong acorn 1/2 to 1 inch long with lower third to half partly covered by hairy and scaled bowl-like cup. Ripens in 1 season in early fall.