Gambel Oak
Quercus gambelii
The common scrub oak of the southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau, forming thickets that blaze orange in fall. Its acorns feed deer, turkeys, and bears, and it resprouts vigorously after fire. Its sweet acorns needed little leaching before grinding into a traditional flour.
- Family
- Fagaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 40–40 ft
- Spacing
- 50–80 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, pollinators, mammals, songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~557 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing
- Native states
- AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, SD, TX, UT, WY
Related native plants
More Quercus species
- Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)
- Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
- White Oak (Quercus alba)
- Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)
- Willow Oak (Quercus phellos)
- Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)