1J121 



GAMBEL OAK 



Quer'cus gambe'lii 



Leaves alternate, deciduous, hot 

 leathery, often reverse-egg-shaped, 2 

 to 4 in. long, bright green and 

 shiny above, dull green and hairless 

 or slightly fine-hairy (but not velvety) 

 beneath, deeply lobed (usually over Jj 

 way to midrib); lobes rounded at the 

 tip, and usually forming acute or nearly 

 right angles with the midrib 



Acorn annual (maturing the first sea- 

 son), egg-shaped with pointed tip, 

 about 'A in. long, almost stalkless; 

 inside of shell hairless 



Cup somewhat top-shaped to hemi- 

 spherical, covering J to }'> of acorn, 

 the- bracts somewhat thickened on the 

 back 



Gambel oak is best known throughout its range in its autumnal aspect, 

 when its gorgeous leaves color the foothills and mountain slopes. 



This species, belonging to the white oak group, is either a small tree or large 

 shrub ; it ranges from western Texas to Wyoming, Utah, southern Nevada, and 

 Arizona and south into Mexico. It grows most abundantly in the central 

 and southern Great Basin, where it occurs over large areas of the foothills; 

 canyons, and lower mountain slopes either in dense, pure stands or sometimes 



