Oaks bring fall to Cuyamaca, Laguna, and Palomar mountains

The Floss Silk Tree, a conspicuous “autumn bloomer” here and there around San Diego, has been showing off its pinkish or purplish, hibiscus-like flowers for a few weeks. The broad, heavy trunks of this South American import, studded with fat, cone-shaped spines, make them easy to identify.

The Tawny Hues of the black oak tree are just beginning to highlight the slopes of San Diego County’s higher mountains. Named for the dark coloring of its bark, especially when wet, the black oak (Quercus kelloggii) is the only deciduous oak native to the county. Associating with pines, firs, cedars, various evergreen oaks, and occasionally chaparral, the black oak lends a true autumn coloring to popular areas such as the Cuyamaca, Laguna, and Palomar mountains.