What is "quercus ilicifolia"

Scrub \Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), n.

1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. ``A sorry scrub.''
   --Bunyan.

   We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us.
   --Goldsmith.

2. Something small and mean.

3. A worn-out brush.
   --Ainsworth.

4. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc.

5. (Stock Breeding) One of the common live stock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, esp. when inferior in size, etc. [U.S.]

6. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush; -- called also scrub brush. See Brush, above.

7. (Forestry) A low, straggling tree of inferior quality.

   Scrub bird (Zo["o]l.), an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithid[ae], as Atrichia clamosa; -- called also brush bird.

   Scrub oak (Bot.), the popular name of several dwarfish species of oak. The scrub oak of New England and the Middle States is Quercus ilicifolia, a scraggy shrub; that of the Southern States is a small tree ( Q. Catesb[ae]i); that of the Rocky Mountain region is Q. undulata, var. Gambelii.

   Scrub robin (Zo["o]l.), an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes.

Oak \Oak\ ([=o]k), n. [OE. oke, ok, ak, AS. [=a]c; akin to D. eik, G. eiche, OHG. eih, Icel. eik, Sw. ek, Dan. eeg.]

1. (Bot.) Any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus. The oaks have alternate leaves, often variously lobed, and staminate flowers in catkins. The fruit is a smooth nut, called an acorn, which is more or less inclosed in a scaly involucre called the cup or cupule. There are now recognized about three hundred species, of which nearly fifty occur in the United States, the rest in Europe, Asia, and the other parts of North America, a very few barely reaching the northern parts of South America and Africa. Many of the oaks form forest trees of grand proportions and live many centuries. The wood is usually hard and tough, and provided with conspicuous medullary rays, forming the silver grain.

2. The strong wood or timber of the oak.

   Note: Among the true oaks in America are:

   Barren oak, or

   Black-jack, Quercus nigra.

   Basket oak, Quercus Michauxii.

   Black oak, Quercus tinctoria; -- called also yellow oak or quercitron oak.

   Bur oak (see under Bur.), Quercus macrocarpa; -- called also over-cup or mossy-cup oak.

   Chestnut oak, Quercus Prinus and Quercus densiflora.

   Chinquapin oak (see under Chinquapin), Quercus prinoides.

   Coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, of California; -- also called enceno.

   Live oak (see under Live), Quercus virens, the best of all for shipbuilding; also, Quercus Chrysolepis, of California.

   Pin oak. Same as Swamp oak.

   Post oak, Quercus obtusifolia.

   Red oak, Quercus rubra.

   Scarlet oak, Quercus coccinea.

   Scrub oak, Quercus ilicifolia, Quercus undulata, etc.

   Shingle oak, Quercus imbricaria.

   Spanish oak, Quercus falcata.

   Swamp Spanish oak, or

   Pin oak, Quercus palustris.

   Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor.

   Water oak, Quercus aquatica.

   Water white oak, Quercus lyrata.

   Willow oak, Quercus Phellos. [1913 Webster] Among the true oaks in Europe are:

   Bitter oak, or

   Turkey oak, Quercus Cerris (see Cerris).

   Cork oak, Quercus Suber.

   English white oak, Quercus Robur.

   Evergreen oak,

   Holly oak, or

   Holm oak, Quercus Ilex.

   Kermes oak, Quercus coccifera.

   Nutgall oak, Quercus infectoria.

   Note: Among plants called oak, but not of the genus Quercus, are:

   African oak, a valuable timber tree ( Oldfieldia Africana).

   Australian oak or She oak, any tree of the genus Casuarina (see Casuarina).

   Indian oak, the teak tree (see Teak).

   Jerusalem oak. See under Jerusalem.

   New Zealand oak, a sapindaceous tree ( Alectryon excelsum).

   Poison oak, a shrub once not distinguished from poison ivy, but now restricted to Rhus toxicodendron or Rhus diversiloba.

   Silky oak or Silk-bark oak, an Australian tree ( Grevillea robusta).

   Green oak, oak wood colored green by the growth of the mycelium of certain fungi.

   Oak apple, a large, smooth, round gall produced on the leaves of the American red oak by a gallfly ( Cynips confluens). It is green and pulpy when young.

   Oak beauty (Zo["o]l.), a British geometrid moth ( Biston prodromaria) whose larva feeds on the oak.

   Oak gall, a gall found on the oak. See 2d Gall.

   Oak leather (Bot.), the mycelium of a fungus which forms leatherlike patches in the fissures of oak wood.

   Oak pruner. (Zo["o]l.) See Pruner, the insect.

   Oak spangle, a kind of gall produced on the oak by the insect Diplolepis lenticularis.

   Oak wart, a wartlike gall on the twigs of an oak.

   The Oaks, one of the three great annual English horse races (the Derby and St. Leger being the others). It was instituted in 1779 by the Earl of Derby, and so called from his estate.

   To sport one's oak, to be ``not at home to visitors,'' signified by closing the outer (oaken) door of one's rooms. [Cant, Eng. Univ.]

Quercus ilicifolia, commonly known as bear oak or scrub oak, is a small shrubby oak native to the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Its range extends in the United States from Maine to North Carolina, with reports of a few populations north of the international frontier in Ontario. The name ilicifolia means "holly-leaved."

Quercus ilicifolia is a deciduous tree or shrub growing occasionally reaching a height of 6 meters (20 feet) but usually much smaller. It is "gangly" and can form a dense thicket. The plant grows from a large taproot which can be up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) thick. The taproot lives a long time, producing several generations of above-ground parts. The alternately arranged leaves are each up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) long by 10 cm (4 inches) wide. The species is monoecious, with plants bearing both male catkins and solitary or clustered female flowers. The egg-shaped acorn is 1 to 2 centimeters (0.4-0.8 inch) long with a saucer-shaped cap. The plant reproduces sexually by seed and also vegetatively by sprouting new stems.

Quercus ilicifolia is a dominant plant species in a number of regions and habitat types. In Maine it can be found in deciduous forests alongside red maple (Acer rubrum), gray birch (Betula populifolia), and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). In Massachusetts it codominates with black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) on the shrublands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. On Cape Cod it occurs with pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and broom crowberry (Corema conradii). It can be found on the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and pine barrens habitat on Long Island. It also occurs in fire barrens on granite and gneiss further north in Canada. This oak is adapted to disturbance in the habitat, such as wildfire. Hence, it does not tolerate shade and it requires disturbance to clear remove other plant species so it can receive sunlight. It sprouts prolifically after fire burns away its above-ground parts.

Quercus ilicifolia provides food and shelter for many animal species. Bears consume the acorns, especially when preparing for hibernation. White-tailed deer eat the acorns and the stems and foliage. Many types of squirrels cache the acorns. Many birds depend on them; wild turkeys prefer them over other types of food. A large number of insect species live on the oak. This oak species is the main food plant for 29% of the rare or endangered Lepidopterans in southern New England and southeastern New York.

Quercus ilicifolia has been used in revegetation projects on the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.

Quercus ilicifolia is also known to rocky summits in the Piedmont of North Carolina where it is listed as a State Endangered Plant.