TESToak YOUR wisdom Welcome to Lift the flaps to check your answers. Shields Oak Grove What do all oaks How many kinds of Where do oaks have in common? oaks are there? grow in the wild? Special Collections, Shields Library Shields Oak Grove is named for Judge Peter J. Shields, often called the father of the UC Davis campus. Judge Shields and his wife Carolee created a fund to provide support for the Arboretum’s land along the waterway. How tall do How long do What are oak oaks get? oaks live? apples? Debbie Aldridge Dr. John M. Tucker was a professor of botany, director of the Arboretum (1965-66 and 1972-84), and a prominent oak researcher. Many of the oaks in Shields Oak Grove were started in the 1960s from acorns collected from around the world for his research. Explore Shields Oak Grove to learn more about these amazing trees. Dr. Tucker created an endowment to help preserve the Grove for future generations. Contact the UC Davis Arboretum to learn J more about supporting Shields Peter . Shields Oak Grove Oak Grove and other giving arboretum.ucdavis.edu opportunities. Sign made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services TESToak YOUR wisdom Welcome to Lift the flaps to check your answers. Shields Oak Grove • Oaks are trees and shrubs that belong to the genus T r opic of Cancer Quercus, meaning “fine tree” Equator T r opic of Capricorn Allan Jones • Oaks have acorns—nuts that grow in a scaly cup Debbie Aldridge • There are approximately 500 species of oak Quercus trees and shrubs in the world • Oaks have tassel-like hanging Oaks are native to the Northern Hemisphere, from flowers; their pollen is • The UC Davis Arboretum collection includes the cold northern latitudes to tropical Southeast Asia Special Collections, Shields Library distributed by the wind about 100 species, varieties, and hybrids and Central America. Shields Oak Grove features oaks Shields Oak Grove is named for Judge Peter J. from around the world. Allan Jones Shields, often called the father of the UC Davis campus. Judge Shields and his wife Carolee created a fund to provide support for the Arboretum’s land along the waterway. • 400 years—oldest An oak apple, or gall, is 320’ native valley oak not a fruit at all. When a Oaks grow from (Quercus lobata) in tiny wasp injects its egg 2 feet to 200 feet the Arboretum into an oak twig, the tree 200’ tall—they are • 1,500 years—oldest forms a growth of plant extremely variable English oaks (Quercus tissue, called a gall, around in appearance. robur)—This 1,000 the egg. The gall provides The Persian oaks Debbie Aldridge 80 year old tree grows in food and protection for the in front of you are Galli Sherwood Forest 40 wasp larva as it matures D r . John M. Tucker was a professor of botany, 6’ about 90 feet tall. 20 Emily Griswold and eats its way out—look director of the Arboretum (1965-66 and 1972-84), Statue of Liberty Oak Tree Person • 13,000 years—shrub oak (Quercus palmeri) in Riverside County, California for the tiny exit hole. and a prominent oak researcher. Many of the oaks in Shields Oak Grove were started in the 1960s from acorns collected from around the world for his research. Explore Shields Oak Grove to learn more about these amazing trees. D r . Tucker created an endowment to help preserve the Grove for future generations. Contact the UC Davis Arboretum to learn J more about supporting Shields Peter . Shields Oak Grove Oak Grove and other giving arboretum.ucdavis.edu opportunities. Sign made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services WHAToaks DO look like white oak Quercus alba temperate This white oak (Quercus alba) is what someone from the eastern forests of the eastern U.S. U.S. would consider a typical oak, but... oaks are variable. What Do All Oaks Have in Common? bur oak Quercus macrocarpa • Oaks belong to the genus Quercus and the temperate forests of the plant family Fagaceae, the beech family central and eastern U.S. • Oaks have acorns – nuts borne in a scaly cup bur oak Quercus macrocarpa valley oak • Oaks have tassel-like catkins (hanging male temperate forests of the Quercus lobata flowers) that release pollen in spring central and eastern U.S. interior valleys of California mesa oak Quercus engelmannii coastal southern California coast live oak All acorns and leaves are actual size Quercus agrifolia coastal hills of California coast live oak netleaf oak Quercus rugosa gray oak Quercus agrifolia mountains of Mexico Quercus grisea coastal hills of California southwest U.S. and Mexico oak of Tabor Quercus ithaburensis All photos were taken by Allan Jones Oaks rely on wind to carry pollen from the male eastern Mediterranean region kermes oak kermes oak Quercus coccifera Quercus coccifera Chinese cork oak Chisos red oak flowers (shown here) to the female flowers, which Mediterranean region rocky hillsides of Quercus variabilis Quercus gravesii are tiny and nondescript. the Mediterranean temperate forests of east Asia desert mountains of west Texas region Turkish oak Quercus cerris mountains of southern Europe and Asia Minor These are all different kinds of oaks. Can you find leaves and acorns that look like these in Shields Oak Grove? Peter J. Shields Oak Grove arboretum.ucdavis.edu Sign made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services IF THIStree COULD TALK Growing up in a living museum of plants Noah’s Ark for Oaks? Age 46 – As a member of the North American Plant 2009 Collections Consortium (NAPCC) Multisite Sampled and Pressed Oak Collection, we, along with a growing Arboretum volunteers collected list of other public gardens, have committed to maintain our oak collection at the highest and pressed samples of my stems to horticultural and museum standards to ensure add to the UC Davis Herbarium (a its long-term preservation for research, teaching, collection of pressed plant samples), and conservation. Although large, the Arboretum’s collection so researchers can study me and Age 44 – A Great Honor includes only 14% of the 500 oak species that make sure I’m properly identified. 2007 occur worldwide. Oaks come from a broad range The Arboretum oak collection was of climate and soil conditions, and no single garden can grow every kind of oak. By partnering inducted into the North American with gardens from different climate zones across Plant Collections Consortium. I’m North America, together we can preserve more oak species, hybrids, and horticultural varieties than now part of an important national any of us could on our own. collection! Emily Griswold Age 43 – On the Map 2006 Student mappers determined my GPS Dawn Spinella location and added Google me to a new digital Age 40 – Health Check-up map. Researchers 2003 Members of the NAPCC can now find me I get periodic Multisite Oak Collection on a map on the health checks (as of 2010) Arboretum website. from an arborist, • Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL or tree doctor. In • Cornell Plantations, Ithaca, NY 2003, my health • Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO Age 36 – A New Label 1999 was rated as good. • Donald E. Davis Arboretum, Auburn, AL I got a new label that helps visitors • Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, OH identify me and learn where my • Landis Arboretum, Esperance, NY species grows in the wild. • Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis, MO Emily Griswold • Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA • The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL Age 20– • Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA 1983 • New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY Becoming a Mature Tree • Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Around this time Claremont, CA • Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, I started flowering Swarthmore, PA The Sapling Years every spring and • Starhill Forest Arboretum, Petersburg, IL 1970s making acorns every • UC Davis Arboretum, Davis, CA fall. UC Davis classes • The University of California Botanical Garden, started to come here Berkeley, CA Age 2 – Planting • University of Washington Botanic Gardens, 1965 to study me and the Seattle, WA I was so small when other oaks. the gardener planted Allan Jones me here from my Are Oaks Threatened? In California and worldwide, many oak species nursery pot that I had are threatened with extinction by urbanization, to be hand-watered and clearing for agriculture, livestock grazing, protected from rabbits overharvesting, and global climate change. A with a wire cage. Joining the Scientific recent global study of oaks found 29 species to 1963 be critically endangered or endangered and 27 Collection more species to be vulnerable. In Shields Oak Grove, Santa Cruz Island oak (Quercus parvula) My Wild Origins The curator gave and Brandegee oak (Quercus brandegeei) from Baja A UC Davis student collected my my acorn an California are both considered endangered. acorn in west Texas while working accession number for botany professor John Tucker. (A63.0009) to track my life and times in Allan Jones the Arboretum. start here Emily Griswold Peter J. Shields Oak Grove arboretum.ucdavis.edu Sign made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services SHOULD I GROWoak AN Recommended Oaks for the Central Valley You decide. Many oaks thrive in hot Central Valley summers, VALLEY OAK Quercus lobata Mighty deciduous oak of but some are too big for urban gardens. the Central Valley is upright and fast-growing when young. It grows to 50-70 ft. tall with a spreading crown To grow... or not to grow? as it matures. Tolerates moderate irrigation, heat, • Picturesque spreading branches add • Trees that are too big for the site can and alkaline soils and is cause problems for home gardeners immune to Sudden Oak beauty to the garden; mature trees Death.