Gambel oak
The shrub oak that forms thickets across Black Canyon's rim, with underground buds that resprout after fire.
Gambel oak at a glance
Quercus gambelii GAM-bul ohk; Quercus gambelii is KWER-kus gam-BEL-ee-eye
- Type
- Plant · oak
- Diet
- Producer
- Size
- Usually a shrub rather than a tree, growing in dense thickets instead of a single tall trunk.
Eats sunlight, water, soil nutrients
It makes its own food by photosynthesis and spreads into thickets from underground stems and lignotubers.
Is it safe to touch?
Nothing to worry about. The leaves and acorns are not for people to eat raw, but the shrub itself is safe to walk past.
The rim of Black Canyon is not a clean line of rock. It is a mat of low, scrubby oak, and much of it is Gambel oak. NPS says Gambel oak and mixed montane shrubland is the park’s most common vegetation class, covering about 29 percent of the map area, more than the park boundary itself.
Gambel oak does not usually grow as one clean tree. It spreads. Tuber-like roots called lignotubers sit at or below the soil, holding hundreds of buds. Underground stems called rhizomes hold more. After a fire or heavy browsing, those buds send up new stems, and the oak comes back as a thicket. The acorns take a full year to mature, and they feed wildlife from bears to rodents.
For a kid on the rim, the oak is the thing at eye level. It is the cover the deer and bears move through, the scrub that makes the edge feel brushy instead of bare, and in fall the color changes before the leaves drop. NPS points visitors to the Oak Flat Trail and the Uplands Trail to walk through it.
Look at a patch and you are not looking at one plant. You are looking at a colony with its spare buds underground, waiting for the next fire.
Did you know?
- Gambel oak and mixed montane shrubland is the park's most common vegetation class, about 29 percent of the map area.
- Its acorns take a full year to mature.
- After a fire or heavy browsing, buds on its lignotubers and rhizomes sprout new stems.
Common questions
Why does Gambel oak grow in thickets?
Tuber-like roots called lignotubers and underground stems called rhizomes send up new shoots, so one plant becomes a dense patch.
What happens to Gambel oak after a fire?
Buds on the lignotubers and rhizomes survive and sprout new stems. NPS says the underground buds are ready after fire or heavy browsing.
How long do the acorns take?
A full year. NPS says Gambel oak acorns take a year to mature.
Where can I see it at Black Canyon?
Along the canyon rim. NPS points visitors to the Oak Flat Trail and the Uplands Trail.