| Plants of the Forest | |||
| Common Name: | Tanoak | Scientific Name: | Lithocarpus densiflora |
| Blooms: | May - June | Native: | Yes. Native of Mixed Evergreen Plant Community |
| Special Comments: | Tanoak (also called tanbark oak) is one of the most common trees in the mixed evergreen and redwood forests. Tanoaks can be found throughout Marcel's Forest and may be even more abundant than the Douglas-firs. An easy way to identify tanoaks is by their spiny-tipped leaves and a leaf vein configuration that looks like marked-off "parking stalls." (Enlarge the photo of the leaves below and see if you agree). Their acorns, which can be found almost anywhere along Old-Growth Loop, are capped with a "hairy" hat that's hard to miss. Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus causing Sudden Oak Death (SOD), attacks several plant species in the redwood region including the tanoak. As of this writing, the dead crown leaves of many SOD-infected tanoaks can be seen along the roadside of Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. No cure for this pathogen has been found as yet. For information about SOD, see the Oak Mortality Task Force website. |
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