a young live oak in february. it is normal for foliage in the upper canopy to drop first. sometimes the tree will retain old foliage in the lower canopy into summer.
right at bud break
a few days into bud break you can see the catkins beginning to develop. these make the green pollen.
about 2 weeks into bud break you can see new leaves developing.
another good picture about 10 days into bud break.
some trees will produce heavy amounts of catkins before foliage begins to come out.
a week or 10 days into bud break.
not all bud develop catkins. you can see only foliage is developing here.
healthy trees will produce many buds at the tip of the twig.
often newly developing foliage will have a red tint of color. these leaves will turn green as they develop.
sometimes live oaks will retain last years foliage through the spring. you can see old leaves present while new buds are breaking. usually, the old leaves well drop by summer at the latest.
sometimes live oaks will hold old leaves through the spring. you can see old leaves still present while new buds are breaking.
typically younger trees will produce more foliage than catkins (pollenators)
4-5 days after bud break on a young twig.
older trees have deeply fissured bark.
by mid summer the pollenated flowers are distinguishable. this is the early stage of a acorn.
early stages of acorn development look like fuzzy green flowers.
galls can be fuzzy or smooth. they can be formed by both insects and fungi, but they are usually not a factor for tree health.
leaf galls almost always develop on the underside of the leaf.
the leaf on the left is typicall size a shape of live oak leaves. it is common to see a variety of leaf sizes and shapes. usually smaller leaves are indication of a stressed tree.
stem galls are produced a reaction to cynipsid wasps laying their eggs in the tree bark. small populations are normal and usually don't cause measurable harm to the tree.
young live oak bark is less fissured than old trees. this will change with age.
