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running oak Fagaceae Quercus minima (Sarg.) Small Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: QUMI2
Leaf: Alternate, simple, evergreen or nearly so, leathery, highly variable in size and shape, 1 to 3 inches long, obovate, oblong or lanceolate, margins entire, coarsely serrated or bristle-tipped lobed especially near tip, shiny green above, lower surface usually pubescent.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males are slender yellow-green catkins 2 to 3 inches long; females are very small, singly or in pairs in leaf axils, early spring with the leaves.
Fruit: Acorn, 1 inch long, rounded at base, reddish brown; scaly, tapering cap covers 1/3 of acorn, matures in 1 season.
Twig: Slender, greenish brown, glabrous, short round buds.
Bark: Smooth, gray-brown.
Form: A small, multi-stemmed shrub that spreads with underground runners, may reach up to 3 feet tall.
 Looks like: live oak

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Additional Range Information: Quercus minima is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information