About Our Millionth Tree
Why we chose a silverleaf oak
This climate resilient oak will serve as a milestone of what we’ve accomplished and a vision for the future
Planting our millionth tree is quite the milestone, so we wanted to make sure to be thoughtful about selecting a tree that would benefit the community, and just as important, be intentional with choosing a tree that could thrive in our parking lot next to such a busy street. We are facing a future of increasingly long hot summers, and more extreme storms, and there are a lot of unknowns about what trees will thrive in our western cities. The silverleaf oak seems like it could be one of those trees.
The silverleaf oak (Quercus hypoleucoides) is native to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, and is adapted to hot, dry conditions, cold temperature, can handle snow and poor, limited soil. Sean Hogan, owner of Cistus Nursery, recently spoke at the Our Trees in Oregon workshop and touted the silverleaf oak as an excellent tree for our current and future climate challenges, specifically within the urban environment of the Portland Metro area. He spoke of seeing individuals growing from rocks with little soil in Mexico, while also seeing how the specimens around Portland can bounce back from being covered in snow and ice.
Friends of Trees strongly believes in the concept of right tree, right place. That means selecting a tree species that suits the conditions of the location, taking into consideration the available sunlight, soil, water, and space. In the urban environment, and in the face of climate change, sometimes we look to hardy non-native species that will do well in tough conditions. The environment along MLK Jr Blvd is an incredibly harsh environment for trees, with full sun exposure and radiant heat in the summer, pollution from vehicle exhaust, poor soil quality, and moderate foot traffic next to a bus stop. In addition, while the tree well is much larger than average, it still presents a limited soil volume for a tree to grow and thrive in.
What this tree can do for the community.
We love oaks! They are particularly good at providing benefits to people and wildlife alike, and the silverleaf oak is no exception.
While this oak is of medium stature, it is evergreen, which is a bonus for intercepting rain water in our region, where we predominantly receive all of our rainfall during the fall and winter months. Many trees planted in the Metro area are deciduous and are not able to intercept nearly as much rainwater as evergreen trees. These fuzzy leaves that stick around will also capture more particulate pollution from vehicle exhaust, year round.
Additionally, the silverleaf oak is pretty fast growing when it’s young and can help to provide shade much sooner than an Oregon white oak. As extreme summer heat becomes more common, and even expected, we need all the shade we can get.
The new silverleaf oak being planted at our office is our millionth, yes, but it is also just one of the million. Thousands of volunteer have come together to plant a million trees and native plants, and together we’re building a community forest for the future.
Physical characteristics
- Mature size: 30-50 ft high, 20-30 ft wide
- Evergreen
- Leaves are gray-green on top, silver-white on the bottom; fuzzy
- Smooth, gray-green bark when young
More resources
Thank you for your support!
This is an amazing opportunity to consider a special gift to Friends of Trees. Given the increasing severity of the impacts of climate change, getting started on our next million trees is more important than ever—and we need your help more than ever. Your gift to Friends of Trees will play a key role in ensuring our long term ability to grow our community forest where and when we need it most, and to make sure the community is involved in the process.