Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 17, 2020
Despite a spectacular bloom with sprays of gold-coloured flowers in the spring, this relative of oak trees remains largely unknown in cultivation.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 2, 2020
For those who wander looking for wildflowers during California’s springtime, I suspect this tree will be immediately familiar. It is the valley oak or roble that grows near the main parking lot to the exceptional North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, photographed seven years ago in early morning light.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on March 1, 2018
It’s that time of year when buds are starting to break their winter dormancy. In December 2014, Daniel and I went for a walk through the Carolinian Forest at UBC Botanical Garden to investigate and photograph buds. We found lots of them! I’ve chosen a few of the photos we’ve taken to highlight some interesting […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on January 16, 2018
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of guest-instructing UBC’s Horticulture Training Program students on a winter twig identification walkabout. For our last species on the list, I couldn’t remember whether we were to look at Quercus robur (common oak or English oak) or Quercus rubra (red oak). We eventually sorted out my forgetfulness (it was the […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 12, 2017
Canyon oak, Quercus chrysolepis, is the most widely-distributed oak species in California, with its range extending beyond California into southwest Oregon, Arizona, northern Mexico, and (barely) Nevada.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on February 27, 2017
Castanea mollissima, or the Chinese chestnut, is a medium-sized deciduous tree belonging to the Fagaceae. It has an open, rounded crown and typically reaches heights of up to 25m tall. The furrowed bark is grey to light-brown in colour. Its pinnately-veined leaves are simple and elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate. They also have coarsely-serrated margins. The name […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 17, 2007
As noted by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Native Plant Database, Quercus agrifolia is “… the common oak of the California coast and foothills, forming parklike groves that often appear in the scenery of motion pictures made in Hollywood”.
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