Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni) can be recognized by its tendency to have some holly-shaped leaves and some smooth-edged leaves—often with both leaf shapes on a single branch. Photo by queerbychoice.Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizeni) is an evergreen oak tree that is native to Davis. Highly variable in size, it can grow more than 70 feet tall but often stays under 30 feet tall and can even remain more shrublike than treelike. It tends to grow about equally as wide as it is tall.
Interior Live Oak is categorized as a red oak. Its dark, leathery leaves are often but not always spiny-toothed, like holly leaves; trees at higher elevations tend to have a larger percentage of holly-like leaves, while trees at lower elevations have primarily fairly smooth leaves. Its acorns are long, narrow, and sharply pointed. It prefers full sun or partial shade.
Interior Live Oak takes its scientific name from Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus, who collected a botanical specimen of it along the Sacramento River near Auburn, California.
