Brewer's oak is a rounded to spreading, deciduous shrub growing to about 15' in height with thin, scaly, grayish bark becoming widely ridged.  Its close relative, var. garryana (called oregon oak), is a tree reaching some 60' in height, but that taxon is not present in Southern California.  The leaf blades are 1-1/2" to 3-1/2" long, oblong to obovate in outline, pinnatifid into 5-7 entire-margined lobes (sometimes with 2 teeth), and with an obtuse to rounded tip.  The upper surfaces are a shiny, dark green, while the lower are short-hairy and a dull light-green.  The male inflorescences are catkins about 1" to 2" long on the proximal tips of twigs, and the female inflorescences are short-stalked and axillary among the upper leaves. The fruit is an ovoid to sub-
globose acorn, 3/4" to 1" long, with a shallow cup maturing the first autumn.  Brewer's oak may be found on dry slopes, 2500' to 5000', in chaparral and yellow pine forest in the Tehachapi and Liebre Mts areas.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Quercus 2) garryana 3) breweri.
Pronunciation: KWER-kus gare-ee-AY-na BROO-er-eye.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.