Gray Oak
Quercus grisea
Gray oak is a small, gray-leaved oak of Southwestern mountains and high desert, often shrubby on rocky slopes. Drought-adapted and an important acorn and host resource in arid uplands. Its acorns are traditional food once the bitter tannins are leached out and the seed ground into flour.
- Family
- Fagaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 6–20 ft
- Spacing
- 10–20 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, alkaline
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- white, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, mammals, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~557 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, hedge or screen, erosion control
- Native states
- AZ, CO, NM, TX
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)