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Fagaceae
Quercus garryana
Lushootseed Name: čaʔadᶻac (pronounced ch-ah-dotz)
Also called the Garry Oak
Location: Southeast corner of Benson hall, towering above the patio.
Historical Background: The Coast Salish peoples soak the acorns to remove tannins before eating. The Saanich used the bark for medicine against health conditions like tuberculosis. The wood is difficult to season without warping, so it has no commercial value. However it has been used experimentally in Oregon for creating casks for aging wine.
Native
Native Range: From B.C., Washington, Oregon, to California
Identifying Features: This tree is the only oak native to Washington state or British Columbia, however, habitat loss due to land conversion for human uses has made it far more difficult to see in the wild here. As a white oak, it exhibits the classic deeply round-lobed deciduous leaves, a shiny light to dark green above, a paler and hairy beneath, up to 5’ (12cm) in length. Bark is light gray and develops thick furrows and ridges early in life, supporting a trunk growing to about 80” (25m) with heavy limbs and low apical control. As an oak, the species also produces acorns, nutlike seed containers smooth and barrel shaped, ending in a tip on one end and capped by a rough cup where they meet the branch. Garry oaks may live as much as 500 years.
Identifying Features In Depth (for app):
Form: Large and spreading when the environment allows, heavy-limbed and broad, up to about 80” (25m) in height. They have been known to obtain trunk diameters greater than 8 feet.
Leaves: Leaves are deciduous and grow alternately. They are deeply lobed (rounded), about 5’ (12cm) in length. The top achieves a shiny dark green in color, with the bottom greenish yellow and sprouting small hairs. In spring they are a light green and in fall turn a yellow-brown before falling.
Bark: Light grey in color and becoming thickly furrowed and ridged even early in life.
Reproductive Bodies: Male reproductive bodies appear as hanging catkins as leaves appear. Female flowers appear in similar hanging clusters or single flowers and give rise to barrel shaped acorns tapering to a tip and capped by a shallow rough cup. Acorns grow to a little over 1’ (3cm) in length and are mature in fall.
Native range of Oregon White Oak compiled by Pellat et. al 2015.
Below is the description found for this species on the original Brockman Memorial Tree Tour:
Historic Tree Tour Information: Against Benson Hall's south-facing concrete patio, by the bicycle rack, is an Oregon White Oak. This is the only oak species native to Washington. The example before you is somewhat inferior specimen, not the norm. It is called Garry Oak in British Columbia, after Nicholas Garry (1781-1856), Secretary and later Deputy Governor of the Hudson Bay Co.
Among oaks it has especially stout twigs bearing large, hairy buds, with deep dark green leaves, rounded in their lobes unlike Red Oak or Shumard Red Oak, and rather large acorns in shallow cups. This species grows slower and is more prone to galls and leaf scorching than many other oaks. The rugged, broad branching habit of aged trees is inspiring, but though the wood is strong, it does break, and native people knew not to camp underneath these trees. The wood is difficult to season without warping, so it has no commercial value. However it has been used experimentally in Oregon for creating casks for aging wine.
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