# California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii)

> California black oak, Quercus kelloggii: its height and zones, when it flowers and fruits, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/california-black-oak/

![A broad, open-grown California black oak with pale crooked limbs on a dry grass hilltop in low golden light](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/california-black-oak-1000.jpg?v=a107a2c1 "A California black oak on a hilltop at Briones Preserve, California, on August 22, 2026. It may live 500 years.")
*Photo: Awinch1001, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_kelloggii_tree_Briones_Preserve_4.jpg))*

Large tree, 40 to 80 feet where planted, zones 7 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow California black oak, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | California Black Oak |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Kellogg oak |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 40 to 80 where planted; up to 124 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 7 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to May |
| Fruit | Acorns, August to December |
| First crop | 30 years (large crops seldom before 80 to 100) |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated tree. The flowers are wind pollinated, and an acorn crop wants another oak nearby, since oaks seldom set acorns with their own pollen. |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 100 to 200 years and can live 500, and the oldest dated one reached 356. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Planting season | Fall. The NRCS plant guide finds seedlings planted in fall or winter grow and survive better than spring ones, and Silvics reports good results from unwatered fall plantings. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands, rocky ground and rich moist slopes |
| Native in | 2 states |

California black oak is native in 2 states: [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA) and [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=california-black-oak): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=california-black-oak:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [More natives for this ground in the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?size=large-tree&sun=full&moisture=average)
- [Every companion of California black oak in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=california-black-oak)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, the Wildflower Center, Calscape and the US Forest Service.