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Native Plant Society of Texas

Escarpment Live Oak

Quercus fusiformis

Other common name(s):

Plateau Live Oak, Hill Country Live Oak, Texas Live Oak, Scrub Live Oak, Plateau Oak, Encino Molino, Tesmoli

Family:

Fagaceae (Beech Family)

Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map

Leaflet Tiles © Esri — Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, TomTom, Intermap, iPC, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), and the GIS User Community
Central Great Plains, Chihuahuan Deserts, Cross Timbers, East Central Texas Plains, Edwards Plateau, Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes, Southern Texas Plains, Western Gulf Coastal Plain
Limestone Plains
Stockton Plateau
Eastern Cross Timbers, Grand Prairie, Limestone Cut Plain, Western Cross Timbers
Bastrop Lost Pines, Floodplains and Low Terraces2, San Antonio Prairie, Southern Post Oak Savanna
Balcones Canyonlands, Edwards Plateau Woodland, Llano Uplift, Semiarid Edwards Plateau
Coastal Sand Plain, Laguna Madre Barrier Island and Coastal Marshes, Southern Subhumid Gulf Coastal Prairies
Northern Nueces Alluvial Plains, Semiarid Edwards Bajada, Texas-Tamaulipan Thornscrub

Plant Characteristics

Growth Form

Tree

Height

20
to
60
ft.

Spread

10
to
40
ft.

Leaf Retention

Evergreen

Lifespan

Perennial

Habitat and Care Requirements

Soil Type(s)

Loam, Gravelly, Calcareous, Shallow, Dry

Light Requirement

Sun

Water Requirement

Very Low, Low

Native Habitat

Woodland

Bloom and Attraction

Bloom Color

Yellow

Bloom Season

Spring

Seasonal Interest

Nuts, Larval Host, Nesting Material

Wildlife Benefit

Butterflies, Birds, Small Mammals

Maintenance

Slow growing. Very drought tolerant. Needs a large open space. Evergreen but sheds leaves in spring as new leaves emerge. It is in the white oak group and therefore less susceptible to oak wilt. Nearly identical in appearance to, and considered much hardier than, Q. virginiana. Propagation: seed.

Comments

A thicket-forming shrub or large, spreading tree. Leaves are firm textured and oval to elliptic in shape. They are usually without lobes except on young plants that have pointed lobes. Tiny flowers are arranged on a catkin. The fruit is an acorn that is spindle-shaped (fusiform), narrowed at the base compared to the similar Q. virginiana. Larval host: Hairstreak and Horace’s Duskywing butterflies.
Previous Scientific Name(s): Quercus virginiana var. fusiformis

References

1) Miller, George O., Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas 2nd Ed., 2013, pg 48. 2) Wasowski and Wasowski, Native Texas Plants Landscaping Region by Region, 1991, pg. 340. 3) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=QUFU. 4) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Quercus+fusiformis&formsubmit=Search+Terms. 5) http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=12084&locationType=County&mapType=Normal. 6) https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=195175#null, 7) https://aggie-hort.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/QUERCUSFUSIFORMIS.HTM#:~:text=It%20grows%20on%20well%2Ddrained,of%20the%20true%20Blackland%20Prairies.
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