Plant Description
Upright form with rounded crown. Sometimes forms thickets. Occasionally reaches 50 ft. but is usually no taller than 30 ft. Found on rocky slopes.
Leaves deeply lobed, 2 to 4 rounded lobes per side, often more than 1/2 the way to the midrib, overall leaf is more elliptic in outline, 2 to 7 inches long. The bark is grayish in color. It is the only winter deciduous oak in Yavapai county.
Habitat
Found in forests, generally in association with ponderosa pine at higher elevations.
Leaves
Smooth above while lighter green with soft hairs below. Oblong up to 6 inches long with 7 to 11 rounded lobes. Turns bronze or sometimes red in the fall.
Flowers
Male flowers are 4 to 12 stamens collected in drooping catkins. Female flowers solitary or in clusters of 2 to 3 in a short spike. Male and female flowers are on the same tree. Mostly wind-pollinated.
Fruit
Oval 3/4 inch long acorn with lower half covered by hairy scales and bowl-like cup. Solitary or clustered in groups of 2 or 3.