Visitors 360
Modified 21-Dec-23
Created 16-Mar-10
29 photos
Although Valley Oaks may not be the most common at Jasper Ridge (I suspect this title goes to the California Live Oak), to me, they are the most iconic. Many Valley Oaks grow alone, surrounded by grassland. Their bare shapes in winter are this photographer's dream.
14 of these 29 images include one single Valley Oak, labeled the "Lonely Valley Oak", in the grassland, near the serpentine, on the ridge.
Quercus lobata, the Valley Oak, is in the White Oak evolutionary lineage. Other members of this lineage at Jasper Ridge are the Blue Oak (Q. douglasii) -- found in a single-aged stand along Road F west of the Serpentine, near Trail 4 -- and its hybrid with the Valley Oak; and the Leather Oak (Q. durata var. durata) and its hybrid with the Blue Oak. There is also a hybrid Scrub Oak (Q. berberidifolio) and Valley Oak. Oaks hybridize readily with other members of the same evolutionary lineage, and not at all with members of another lineage.
More recent images can be found in "A Day at a Time".
