How To Identify Plants At The SRP: How Species Are Defined

• An indented-couplet key to distinguish the four most common species of oaks at the SRP:

  1. plant [is] a tree

       2. leaves flat, bluish-gray or grayish-green .... Engelmann oak, Quercus engelmannii
       2' leaves with edges curled downward, green ..... coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia

  1' plant [is] a shrub

       3. leaf margin mostly with no teeth or very minor teeth, leaves often longer than 30 mm (1.2") .... hybrid scrub oak, Quercus berberidifolia X Q. engelmannii
       3'. leaf margin mostly with evident teeth, leaves mostly less than 30 mm (1.2") long .... scrub oak, Quercus berberidifolia