The 14 Oak Species of the Lake Wales Ridge

11. Quercus minima

If Sand Live Oak (Quercus geminata) is a dwarf form of Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), then Dwarf Live Oak (Quercus minima) is a dwarf form of Sand Live Oak (Quercus geminata). It is also known, therefore, as Double-Dwarf Oak.

At nearly one foot tall, this Dwarf Live Oak has mature acorns.

You might easily mistake a forest of Quercus minima as a Gopher Apple patch or even wax myrtle. It would be hard to think “oak forest” upon initial vantage.

A giant forest for the ants, these mighty oaks are only a few inches tall.

Dwarf Live Oaks also act as host plants for the larvae of the Red-Banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) and the White-M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album).

23. Mature leaf blades densely tomentose with stellate hairs on the lower surface, the blade shape mostly elliptic, sometimes slightly broader towards the apex, sometimes shallowly lobed along the margin 24. Shrubs, usually 1.5 m tall or less when mature