Plants of the Forest
Common Name:	Coast Live Oak	Scientific Name:	Quercus agrifolia
Blooms:		Native:	Yes. Native of the area
Special Comments:	Coast live oaks have bright evergreen leaves that are convex and spiny on the edges. Underneath younger live oak leaves, tufts of hair emerge from the intersection of the midvein and side vein, sometimes requiring a magnifying glass to see them. The oblong-shaped sharp-tipped acorns of the coast live oak are food for some forest animals. Western gray squirrels, steller's jays, and acorn woodpeckers, probably dine on coast live oak acorns. Acorn woodpeckers have established at least two granaries in Marcel's Forest to hide their cache of coast live and tanoak acorns. Don't miss seeing these granaries -- one on Oak Ridge Trail and the other at Stop 8, near the Pourroy Garden. You can see coast live oaks on the south-facing hillside above Old-Growth Loop. Take the Oak Ridge Trail to get a closer look at these native trees.
	Click picture to enlarge
Unfortunately, coast live oaks can also be infected by sudden oak death (SOD). This picture shows evidence of previous bleeding on a SOD-infected coast live oak. Sudden oak death is caused by the fungus, Phytophthora ramorum Photo by Joseph O'brien, USDA Forest Service. Courtesy of California Oak Mortality Task Force
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