Quercus myrtifolia

Quercus myrtifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Fagaceae
Genus:	Quercus
Species:	Q. myrtifolia
Binomial name
Quercus myrtifolia Willd.
Natural range of Quercus myrtifolia from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: myrtle oak

Description

A description of Quercus myrtifolia is provided in The Flora of North America.

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, Q. myrtifolia has occurred in scrub oak stands on stabilized dunes, slashpine flatwoods, longleaf pine-wiregrass sand ridges, sandy live oak-myrtle oak woods, mesic pine-oak scrubs, sand barrens, pine-scrub oak-palmetto communities, live oak hammocks, and an ecotone between wet woodlands along a small stream and a tangle of hardwoods on a sand ridge. It has also been recorded as an ornamental tree along city streets (FSU Herbarium). Soil types include sand and loamy sand. Associated species include Quercus incana, Q. myrtifolia, Q. chapmanii, Q. geminata, Q. laevis, Q. minima, Q. hemisphaerica, Q. incana, Pinus clausa, Lyonia ferruginea and Ceratiola (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Flowers March through May and fruits April through November (FSU Herbarium).

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Quercus myrtifolia at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Apidae: Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens

Colletidae: Colletes brimleyi

Halictidae: Agapostemon splendens, Augochlora pura, Augochlorella aurata, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, Lasioglossum placidensis

References and notes

Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.