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Blue Oak Woodland
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal California; in interior valleys of the Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges; and in a ring around the California Central Valley grasslands. The dominant trees are oaks, interspersed with other broadleaf and coniferous trees, with an understory of grasses, herbs, geophytes, and California native plants. Oak savannas occur where the oaks are more widely spaced due a combination of lack of available moisture, and low-intensity frequent fires. The oak woodlands of Southern California and coastal Northern California are dominated by coast live oak (''Quercus agrifolia''), but also include valley oak ( ''Q. lobata''), California black oak ( ''Q. kelloggii''), canyon live oak ( ''Q. chrysolepis''), and other California oaks. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oak Savanna
An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks (''Quercus ''spp.) are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Mediterranean area. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning, humans, grazing, low precipitation, and/or poor soil. Although there are pockets of oak savanna almost anywhere in North America where oaks are present, there are three major oak savanna areas: 1) California, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon in the west; 2) Southwestern United States and northern Mexico; and 3) the prairie/forest border of the Midwestern United States. There are also small areas of oak savannas in other parts of the world. (See also Eastern savannas of the United States for information on pine savannas of the U.S. South.) Midwestern oak savannas The oak savannas of the Midwestern United States form a transition zone betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at . part of the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the eruptions in the contiguous United States over the last 200 years have been from Cascade volcanoes. The two most recent were Lassen Peak from 1914 to 1921 and a major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Coast Ranges
The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Physiographically, they are a section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division. UNESCO has included the "California Coast Ranges Biosphere Reserve" in its Man and the Biosphere Programme of World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 1983. * Physiography The northern end of the California Coast Ranges overlap the southern end of the Klamath Mountains for approximately 80 miles on the west. They extend southward for more than 600 miles to where the coastline turns eastward along the Santa Barbara Channel, around the area of Point Conception. Here the southern end meets the Los Angeles Transverse Ranges, or ''Sierras de los Angeles''. The rocks themselves that com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klamath-Siskiyou
The Klamath Mountains ecoregion of Oregon and California lies inland and north of the Coast Range ecoregion, extending from the Umpqua River in the north to the Sacramento Valley in the south. It encompasses the highly dissected ridges, foothills, and valleys of the Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains. It corresponds to the Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency and to the Klamath-Siskiyou forests ecoregion designated by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The ecoregion, also known as a ''geomorphic province,'' was unglaciated during the Pleistocene epoch, when it served as a refuge for northern plant species. Its mix of granitic, sedimentary, metamorphic, and extrusive rocks contrasts with the predominantly volcanic rocks of the Cascades ecoregion to the northeast. The mild, subhumid climate of the region is characterized by a lengthy summer drought. It supports a mosaic of both northern Californian and Pacific Northwestern conifers and hardwoods. Ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Sabiniana
''Pinus sabiniana'' (sometimes spelled ''P. sabineana''), with vernacular names including towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, bull pine, and digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Some sources discourage using the name "digger pine," considering it pejorative ("digger" was a slur commonly used to refer to Indigenous Americans in the Great Basin and California). Description The ''Pinus sabiniana'' tree typically grows to , but can reach feet in height. The needles of the pine are in fascicles (bundles) of three, distinctively pale gray-green, sparse and drooping, and grow to in length. The seed cones are large and heavy, in length and almost as wide as they are long. When fresh, they weigh from , rarely over . The male cones grow at the base of shoots on the lower branches. File:Pinus sabiniana pollen cones Pinnacles, California.jpg, Pollen cones File:Pinus sabineana 00061.JPG, Bark File:J20161101-0079—Gray pine cone, pine nuts, and resin—R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Douglasii
''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. It is occasionally known as mountain oak and iron oak. Description ''Quercus douglasii'' is a medium-sized tree with sparse foliage, generally tall, with a trunk in diameter at breast height. Trunks are typically solitary, but some trees have multiple trunks. The tallest recorded specimen was found in Alameda County, at . The trees grow slowly, about per year. Individual trees over 500 years old have been recorded. The bark is light gray with many medium-sized dark cracks. The blue-green leaves are tough and leathery, deciduous, long, and entire or shallowly lobed. The acorns are long, with a moderately sweet kernel, and mature in 6–7 months from pollination. ''Q. douglasii'' is mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Valley (California)
The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific coast of the state. It covers approximately , about 11% of California's land area. The valley is bounded by the Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although th ... to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. The Central Valley is a list of regions of California, region known for its agricultural productivity: it provides more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. More than of the valley are irrigated via reservoirs and canals. The valley hosts many cities, including the state capital Sacramento, California, Sacramento ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Chrysolepis
''Quercus chrysolepis'', commonly termed canyon live oak, canyon oak, golden cup oak or maul oak, is a North American species of evergreen oak that is found in Mexico and in the western United States, notably in the California Coast Ranges. This tree is often found near creeks and drainage swales growing in moist cool microhabitats. Its leaves are a glossy dark green on the upper surface with prominent spines; a further identification arises from the leaves of canyon live oak being geometrically flat. Description ''Quercus chrysolepis'' is an evergreen tree with significant-sized spreading, horizontal branches, and a broad, rounded crown; it attains a height of 6–30 meters (20–100 feet) and often forms as a shrub. The trunk diameter typically ranges from . Exceptionally large specimens are found in the mountains of Southern California, and rank among the largest oaks in North America. The largest known in the San Bernardino Mountains measures high, with a trunk circumfere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Kelloggii
''Quercus kelloggii'', the California black oak, also known as Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section (genus ''Quercus'', section ''Lobatae'', series ''Agrifoliae''), native to western North America. Although genetically separated from them for more than 20 million years, its leaves (though not its fruit) are remarkably similar in appearance to several other members of the red oak section including the red oak (''Quercus rubra'') and the black oak (''Quercus velutina'') found in eastern and central North America. Description ''Quercus kelloggii'' typically grows from in height and from in diameter. Large trees may exceed in height and diameter, with the record holder measuring tall and thick (in the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon). The species also grows in shrubby scrub-oak form on poor sites. In open areas, the crown is broad and rounded, with lower branches nearly touching the ground or forming a browse line. In closed stands, the crown is narrow and slender ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Lobata
''Quercus lobata'', commonly called the valley oak or roble, grows into the largest of California oaks. It is endemic to California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County. Mature specimens may attain an age of up to 600 years. This deciduous oak requires year-round access to groundwater. Its thick, ridged bark is characteristic and resembles alligator hide. The valley oak's deeply lobed leaves assist in identification. Description The valley oak may surpass in height, with a sturdy trunk possibly exceeding in diameter. The "Henley Oak", in Covelo, California, is the tallest known valley oak, at . The branches have an irregular, spreading and arching appearance that produce a profound leafless silhouette in the clear winter sky. During autumn, the leaves turn a yellow to light orange color but become brown later in the season. In advancing age, the branches assume a drooping characteristic. The tree's pewter-colored rippled bark ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Agrifolia
''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is generally a medium-sized tree. It grows west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from Mendocino County, California, south to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is classified in the red oak section of oaks (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''). This species is commonly sympatric with canyon live oak (''Q. chrysolepis''), and the two may be hard to distinguish because their spinose leaves are superficially similar. Description Coast live oak typically has a much-branched trunk and reaches a mature height of . Some specimens may attain an age exceeding 1,000 years. Examples of this include the Grand Oak of Cherry Valley, California, the Encino Oak Tree, which died in the 1990s (part of the stump has been preserved) and the Pechanga Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
