Native Shrubs in Wildlife Landscaping

Scrub Oak

Excellent Food and Cover

Scrub, Bear or Turkey Oak- Quercus ilicifoliata

Form:
Shrub or small tree with a rough, straggling appearance.

Bark:
Smooth, brown, twigs with a star-shaped pith.

Leaves:
Deciduous, alternate, wedge-shaped base, widest near tip, usually 5 lobes with bristle tips, downy wite beneath, turns russet brown in autumn and persist through winter.

Fruit:
Acorn less than ½ inch long with ½ or less enclosed in the saucer-shaped cup.

WV Range:
Berkeley , Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Monroe , Morgan, Pendleton, Pocahontas and Randolph .

Natural Habitat:
Dry hillside and ridgetops.

Wildlife Use:
Many wildlife species feed on the acorns. Animals include deer, bear, squirrel, chipmunks, etc. Birds include turkey, grouse, quail, bluejays, and woodpeckers. Deer will browse on the twigs and foliage. Scrub oak produces, abundant and frequent crops of acorns and is very valuable for wildlife plantings. It also provides excellent year-round cover and good nest sites when grown in small groups.

Horticulture:
Uses: group plantings (masses), rock gardens, or specimen.
Light: Full sunlight.
Soil Moisture: Dry.
Soil pH: Acid to mildly acid (optimum 4.5 to 6).
Problems: No serious insect or disease problems known. Difficult to transplant seedlings (best to plant acorns).

Compiled by: Emily K. Grafton, botanist, naturalist and environmental educator, Morgantown , West Virginia .

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