Quercus pumila
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Running Oak, Runner Oak
Fagaceae
Plant Specifics
| Form: | Shrub | |
| Size: | Typically 3 to 6 ft high, sometime higher, and forming clones. | |
| Life Span: | Long-lived perennial | |
| Flower Color: | Green (inconspicuous) | |
| Fruit Color: | Brown | |
| Phenology: | Evergreen. Blooms early spring (inconspicuous). Fruits ripen the second fall. Clonal, a likely adaptation to fire. | |
| Noted for: | Hurricane wind resistance |
Landscaping
| Recommended Uses: | Forms a low thicket with many sprouts from underground stems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Propagation: | Seed or as nursery-grown sapplings. Small stems may difficult to transplant from the wild. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Availability: | Native nurseries, Seed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Full Sun, Part Shade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely dry |
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| (Not wet but not extremely dry ----- to ----- Somewhat long very dry periods) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: | Not wet but not extremely dry ----- to ----- Somewhat long very dry periods | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Water Flooding Tolerance: | Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance: | Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil or other substrate: | Lime rock, Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil pH: | Acidic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology
| Wildlife: |
Small mammals, including squirrels, use the acorns. Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. The acorns are utilized by squirrels. An important food source for the Florida scrub-jay as the tannins in the nuts help it remain edible through the winter; scrub-jays may also use it for nesting and perching | |
| Insects: | Larval host for Horace's duskywing (Erynnis horatius), red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) and white-M hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) butterflies.
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| Native Habitats: | Scrub, scrubby flatwoods, scrubby sandhill. |
Distribution and Planting Zones
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
10A 10B 8A 8B 9A 9B
USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures