Bailey & Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 



65 



bushes may form extensive thickets on the mountain sides and act as valuable 

 protection to the soil against erosion. The foHage is browsed by mule deer 

 and the acorns are eaten by certain birds and small mammals. 



Occurrence. — LASSEN, occasional. YOSEMITE, abundant, 5,000 to 9,000 feet: Ledge 

 trail to Glacier Point; Four Mile trail; 2^ miles east of White Wolf; ^4 mile east of 

 Gentry checking station. SEQUOIA, 7,000 to 10,000 feet: Sugar Bowl Dome. 



4. Shrub Live Oak, 

 California Scrub Oak, 

 Chapparral Oak (Quercus 

 dumosa Nutt.), fig. 20. — Low 

 evergreen shrub, 3 to 9 feet 

 high or sometimes a small tree 

 with stiff spreading branches; 

 young twigs and leaves covered 

 with fine hairs; leaves oblong 

 to roundish, ^ to 1 inch long, 

 grayish-green above, paler or 

 rusty-hairy below, conspicuous- 

 ly net-veined, the margins shal- 

 lowly lobed or with spine- 

 tipped teeth or not toothed; 

 acorns slender, oblong, I/2 to 

 nearly 1 inch long, borne in 

 clusters of 2 or 3, maturing the 

 first autumn; cup rather shal- 

 low, top-shaped, gray. (Syn. 

 Q. tiirbmella Greene.) 



The plants may occur singly or massed into low thickets. In spite of 

 the tannin content of the herbage, this oak constitutes one of the valuable 

 browse species of the genus, especially during dry seasons when other forage is 

 scarce. The acorns were used to some extent by the Indians of the Southwest. 



Occurrence. — MESA VERDE, rare. ZlON, abundant, 2,250 to 5,000 feet: West Rim 

 trail; Silver Reef mine. GRAND CANYON, 3,000 to 5,200 feet. North Rim: Powell 

 Spring; McKinnon Point. South Rim: Bass Canyon. Canyon: Bright Angel Canyon; 

 Kaibab trail a little below Cottonwood Camp; Santa Maria Spring. 



5. Scrub Oak, Rocky Mountain Shin Oak (Quercus undidata 

 Torr.), fig. 2L — A small evergreen tree or spreading shrub with stout, more 

 or less contorted stems; bark thin, scaly, pale gray, tinged with brown; leaves 

 leathery, oblong, pointed at the tip or rarely rounded, 1 to 2 inches long, 

 grayish-green, more or less hairy or scurfy when young, the margins toothed, 

 the teeth rigid but not spine-tipped; acorns oval, rounded or slightly pointed 

 at the tips, % to 1 inch long, the cup hemispheric, thickish, light brown, 

 finely hairy, with a fine fuzz on the inside, covering about 1/3 of the nut, 

 the scales red-tipped. This species favors dry rocky ridges and slopes, often 

 forming extensive thickets. 



Occurrence.- — ZlON, 4,000 to 4,500 feet: canyon walls near south entrance; along 



Fig. 20. Shrub live oak (Qluercus dumosa). 



