- Deciduous tree, 40-80 ft (12-24 m), open, rounded crown, may be a shrub at high elevations, to 15 ft (4.5 m). Bark dark gray or black, smooth on young trees and broad, irregularly plated ridges. Leaves alternate, simple, 8-15 cm long, sharply cut into 7-11 lobes, which toothed, each tooth ending in a bristle, base often obtuse or wedge-shaped, upper surface glossy green, paler below, both surfaces of young leaves sometimes pubescent and dusty rose or soft pink, autumn color is yellow or yellow orange. Fruit (acorn) 2-3.5 cm long, cup encloses about half the nut; acorns mature in the second year.
- Sun or light shade. Drought resistant, succeeds in dry, sandy, or gravelly soil.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 7 Native range from south central Oregon to southern California, on the west side of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, foothills and lower mountains.
![Smilacina [Maianthemum] racemosum (False Solomon's Seal) Seed Packet EO](https://www.gardenmaintenancetools.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smilacina-maianthemum-racemosum-false-solomon-s-seal-seed-packet-eo.webp)
