FNPS Plant Database

Quercus pumila

running oak, runner oak

PHOTOS COMING SOON!

Nomenclature

Common Name:

running oak, runner oak

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Quercus pumila

Family:

Fagaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

Typically 3 to 6 ft high, sometime higher, and forming clones.

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

green (inconspicuous)

Fruit Color:

brown

Phenology:

Evergreen. Blooms early spring (inconspicuous). Fruits ripen the second fall. Clonal, a likely adaptation to fire.

Noted For:

Hurricane Wind Resistance

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Forms a low thicket with many sprouts from  underground stems.

Considerations:

Availability:

Native Nurseries, Seed

Propagation:

Seed or as nursery-grown sapplings. Small stems may difficult to transplant from the wild.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Not wet but not extremely dry ---to--- Somewhat long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals

Larval host  for Horace's duskywing (Erynnis horatius), red-banded hairstreak ( Calycopis cecrops ) and white-M hairstreak ( Parrhasius m-album ) butterflies.





 

Small mammals, including squirrels, use the acorns.





 Provides significant food and cover for wildlife.





The acorns are utilized by squirrels.





An important food source for the Florida scrub-jay as the tannins in the nuts help it remain edible through the winter; scrub-jays may also use it for nesting and perching

Native Habitats:

Scrub, scrubby flatwoods, scrubby sandhill.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Citations:

Huegel, Craig, N.  2010.  Native plant landscaping for Florida wildlife.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. (wildlife uses)



Friends of Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park.  Plant Checklist.   https://www.kissimmeeprairiefriends.org/uploads/1/0/5/0/10507493/kppplantlistbookformrev01617-websrgb1.pdf



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening .  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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