Distribution
Engelmann Oak ranges from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in eastern Los Angeles County through the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County and the western foothills and mesas of the Peninsular Ranges in Riverside and San Diego counties, extending into the Sierra Juárez and Sierra San Pedro Mártir ranges of northern Baja California. They are generally found in savannas and woodlands above the dry coastal plain, but below the 1300 meters (4200 ft) elevation where colder winters prevail. The Engelmann Oak has a smaller range than most California oaks, and suburban sprawl in the San Gabriel Valley has eliminated the oaks from most of the northern part of the range. The largest remaining stands of Engelmann Oaks are on the Santa Rosa Plateau, near Murrieta in Riverside County, and on Black Mountain near Ramona in San Diego County.
Fossil evidence shows that Engelmann Oaks once had a wider range, extending through what is now the Mojave and Sonoran deserts into eastern California and Arizona. The Engelmann Oak is most closely related to the Arizona White Oak (Q. arizonica) and Mexican Blue Oak (Q. oblongifolia), which are native to the subtropical pine-oak woodlands of Arizona and northern Mexico. The Engelmann Oak is considered to be the northernmost species of subtropical oak, which was later isolated from its closest relatives to the east by the drying of the southwestern deserts.
Read more about this topic: Quercus Engelmannii
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