# Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii)

> Gambel oak, Quercus gambelii: a small tree of 10 to 40 feet where planted, for zones 4 to 8, 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/gambel-oak/

![A clump of Gambel oaks with gray trunks and yellow fall leaves against a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/gambel-oak-1000.jpg?v=8e767663 "Gambel oaks along Desert View Drive on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, on October 31, 2011. One cross-dated in the Chisos Mountains was 406 years old.")
*Photo: Michael Quinn, National Park Service, [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_gambelii_Grand_Canyon_1.jpg) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_gambelii_Grand_Canyon_1.jpg))*

Small tree, 10 to 40 feet where planted, zones 4 to 8; full sun; dry or average ground.

We do not grow Gambel 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 | Gambel Oak |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Rocky Mountain white oak, Utah white oak |
| Form | Small tree |
| Height, feet | 10 to 40 where planted; up to 114 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 30 |
| Zones | 4 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, edible, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to June |
| Fruit | Acorns, August to October |
| 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 | Typically lives 90 years, and the oldest dated one reached 406. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The leaves, young ones blackened by frost most of all, and the young shoots are poisonous to cattle. |
| Ground | Dry uplands and rocky ground |
| Native in | 8 states |

Gambel oak is native in 8 states: [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from the Fire Effects Information System and the Woody Plant Seed Manual. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=gambel-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=gambel-oak): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=gambel-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=gambel-oak): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=gambel-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=gambel-oak): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Dwarf Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis tenuifolia*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md) (*Juglans microcarpa*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Plateau Live Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/plateau-live-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus fusiformis*): small tree, 20 to 40 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) (*Sideroxylon lanuginosum*): small tree, 15 to 45 feet, zones 5 to 10. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Rusty Blackhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rusty-blackhaw/index.html.md) (*Viburnum rufidulum*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Ozark Chinquapin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ozark-chinquapin/index.html.md) (*Castanea ozarkensis*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 5 to 8. Shares dry uplands and rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of Gambel oak in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=gambel-oak)

## Read from

Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, Colorado State University Extension and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.