Garry Oak

Garry Oak – Quercus garryana (Fagaceae)
A deciduous, native, angiosperm ranging from southern California to the southwestern corner of British Columbia. Also known as Oregon white oak, Garry oak is a deeply-rooted, drought tolerant species. It can be distinguished from English white oak by its shiny, dark-green upper leaf surface, leaf stalks more than 1 cm long, and solitary or paired acorns on short stalks less than 5 mm in length. Garry oak tends to have short, forked trunks compared to the tall, straight trunk of English white oak. The acorns are edible after soaking to leach out bitter tannins. Small green or yellow galls can often be found on the undersides of leaves. The galls are formed by the oak around colonies of wormlike larvae belonging to one of several species of tiny wasps. A common wasp species responsible for these galls is Cynips maculipennis