Quercus garryana is an oak tree species found most commonly in the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Garry oak, Oregon white oak or Oregon oak. It is named for Nicholas Garry, deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Description Quercus garryana is typically of medium height, growing slowly to around 80 feet (24 metres) and occasionally as high as 100 ft (30 m), or in shrub form to 10 to 15 ft (3.0 to 4.6 m) tall. The trunks grow to 3 ft (0.91 m) thick, exceptionally 5 ft (2 m). The bark is gray and fissured. It has the characteristic oval profile of other oaks when solitary, but is also known to grow in groves close enough together that crowns may form a canopy. The leaves are deciduous, 2–6 in (5.1–15 cm) long and 1–3 in broad, with 3–7 deep lobes on each side, darker green on top and finely haired below. The flowers are catkins. The fruit a small acorn 3⁄4–1 in (19–25 mm) long, rarely 1+1⁄2 in, and 1⁄2–3⁄4 in (13–19 mm) broad, with shallow, scaly cups. Its fall color is unspectacular, with many trees turning plain brown. The Oregon white oak is commonly found in the Willamette Valley hosting the mistletoe Phoradendron flavescens. It is also commonly found hosting galls created by wasps in the family Cynipidae. 'Oak apples', green or yellow ball of up to 5 cm in size, are the most spectacular. They are attached to the undersides of leaves. One common species responsible for these galls is Cynips maculipennis. Another common predator is the oak twig gall wasp (Bassettia ligni), which causes dead twigs and small branches, especially near the tips of branches. Its effects are cyclic, with successive years producing highly variable amounts of oak twig die-back. Other species create other galls on stems and leaves. Shapes vary from spheres to mushroom-shaped to pencil-shaped. Individual specimens can grow to around 500 years in age, such as those on Sauvie Island near Portland, Oregon. The genus name Quercus comes from Latin meaning "oak tree." The Garry Oak (Quercus garryana), also called Oregon white oak, ranges from British Columbia to California. The latin scientific name, Quercus garryana, was bestowed by Botanist David Douglas in the early 1800's to honor his friend, Nicholas Garry, an officer in the Hudson Bay Trading Company. The Garry oak (Quercus garryana) is one of 20 native oak species found on the Pacific Coast of Northern America, but the only native oak found in western Washington or British Columbia.
Taxonomy
Taxonomic history David Douglas was the first non-native person to record the species. Quercus garryana is named after Nicholas Garry, who was deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1822 to 1835 and a supporter of Douglas.
Varieties There are three varieties of Garry oak:
Quercus garryana var. garryana – tree to 65 (100) ft. British Columbia south along the Cascades to the California Coast Ranges. Quercus garryana var. breweri – shrub to 15 ft; leaves velvety underneath. Siskiyou Mountains. Quercus garryana var. semota – shrub to 15 ft; leaves not velvety underneath. Sierra Nevada.
Distribution and habitat It grows from sea level to an elevation of 690 ft (210 m) in the northern part of its range, and from 980 to 5,900 ft (300 to 1,800 m) in the south of the range in California. In British Columbia, the Garry oak grows on the Gulf Islands and southeastern Vancouver Island, from west of Victoria along the east side of the island up to the Campbell River area. There are also small populations along the Fraser River on the British Columbia mainland. The northernmost population of Garry oak can be found just below 50°N on Savary Island, in the northern stretches of the Strait of Georgia. The Garry oak is the only oak native to British Columbia, and one of only two oaks (along with the bur oak) native to western Canada. In Washington, the tree grows on the west side of the Cascade Range, particularly in the Puget Sound lowlands, the northeastern Olympic Peninsula, Whidbey Island, the Chehalis river valley, and the San Juan Islands. It also grows in the foothills of the southeastern Cascades and along the Columbia River Gorge. In Oregon, the tree grows on the west side of the Cascade Range, primarily in the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys, and along the Columbia River Gorge, as well as in canyons adjacent to the gorge. In California, the garryana variety grows in the foothills of the Siskiyou and Klamath Mountains, the Coast Ranges of Northern California, and of the west slope of the Cascades. The semota variety grows in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges as far south as Los Angeles County.
Ecology It is a drought-tolerant tree. Older specimens are often affected by heart rot. The acorns are consumed by wildlife and livestock. David Douglas recorded that bears consumed them. The Garry oak is the obligate host plant of the butterfly Erynnis propertius in the northern third of its range. In British Columbia, the Garry oak can be infested by three nonnative insects: the jumping gall wasp Neuroterus saltatorius, the oak leaf phylloxeran, and the spongy moth. While the invasive plant disease commonly called sudden oak death attacks other Pacific Coast native oaks, it has not yet been found on the Oregon white oak. Most oak hosts of this disease are in the red oak group, while Oregon white oak is in the white oak group.
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