Favoritos de jordanii

Growing in moist seeping shale alcove along beach. Note: distinctive differentiated distal laminal cell border, leaves large spathulate, proximal margins border by elongate cells, margins recurved in proximal half. BC blue list. Coll. 20-730

Location skewed for protection. With Wayne Armstrong. This population was previously identified by Wayne. He has posted a website all about it which also shows the spores.

https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/owenpk7.htm

My first thought was Q. kelloggii, which I was pretty excited about since it's never been reported from this range, but characters of the leaves and bark don’t quite match up. Leaves generally lack bristles at the lobe tips (though they may be acute), and the bark appears to peel off in plates or sheets (similar to Q. berberidifolia).

Instead, I think this is a hybrid of Q. lobata and Q. berberidifolia, both of which are common nearby. Unfortunately, no acorns were available for inspection.