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Quercus chrysolepis Live oak Evergreen tree (1 Page of 5) The Quercus chrysolepis plant species is found in Southwestern N. America - Oregon to California, west to Arizona. It is a member of the Fagaceae family. Common gardeners may know the plant as Live oak. Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses Medicinal | Edible Uses Latin Name: Quercus chrysolepis Common Name: Live oak Family: Fagaceae Author: Liebm. Known Hazards: None known Mature Height: 25 Mature Width: Habitat: Found in a variety of habitats, it is a tall tree in deep, cool, narrow canyons and is a low thicket-forming shrub on high windswept slopes[82, 229].
Edible Uses: Seed - cooked[161, 177]. A staple food for several native North American Indian tribes[257]. The seed is about 3cm long and wide[82, 200] and can be up to 5cm long and wide[82]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed contains bitter tannins - these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
For further Quercus chrysolepis gardening information click on one of the blue links below Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses Medicinal | Edible Uses
The information above has been supplied solely via the hard work and dedication of the team at 'Plants for a Future'. View their bibliography

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