There are only three kinds
of oak trees in Shell Ridge Open Space. They are the Blue Oak, the Valley
Oak, and the Coast Live Oak. We are disregarding the “Poison Oak”, which
is more of a shrub or a vine than a tree. The Coast Live Oak has leaves all
year long, thus the name “Live Oak”. The leaves are a bit more “cupped” than
either of the two deciduous oaks. You can imagine, with this cupping, that
the Coast Live Oak leaves would float better in water, much as a boat would
float on Coastal waters. The other two oaks are deciduous, dropping their
leaves late in the year. The Blue Oak leaves have a slightly bluish caste
to them, the leaves are smaller than the Valley Oaks and the bark has smaller
vertical striations in it. The top ridge of Shell Ridge has several stunted
Valley Oaks. The stunting is due to the excessive amounts of wind pruning.
Jerry Fritzke 6/22/03
|
|
