Landscape Uses:
	Accent tree in dry soils.
Ecological Restoration Notes:
Availability:
	Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.
Description:
	Small tree or large shrub with a broad-spreading round-topped crown. Trunks often twisted, to 8 inches in diameter. Bark dark gray to brown, generally smooth, and slightly furrowed near the base. Leaves shiny, about 1-2 inches long, the edges usually rolled downward.
Height:
	Typically 15-30 feet in height in South Florida; to 36 feet in Florida. Can be as broad as tall.
Growth Rate:
	Slow.
Range:
	Southeastern United States south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.
Habitats:
	Pinelands, scrub and xeric hammocks.
Soils:
	Moist to dry, well-drained sandy soils, with or without humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements:
	Low to moderate; it can grow in nutrient poor soils or soils with some organic content.
Salt Water Tolerance:
	Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance:
	Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance:
	High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements:
	Full sun.
Flower Color:
	Green.
Flower Characteristics:
	Inconspicuous. Pollination is by wind.
Flowering Season:
	Spring.
Fruit:
	Brown acorn. Edible.
Wildlife and Ecology:
	Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for Horace's duskywing (Erynnis horatius), red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops) and white-M hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album) butterflies; possible larval host for Juvenal's duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) and oak hairstreak (Fixsenia favonius) butterflies. The acorns are utilized by squirrels and the threatened Florida scrub jay.
Horticultural Notes:
	Can be grown from seed.
Comments:
	See a 2019 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog on myrtle oaks and their micro mites.