oak

One of the things I miss about living in California is the preponderance of oak trees. They’re all over the hillsides with their beautifully twisting branches. Even small patches of oaks provide food, shade, and habitat for a wide variety of plants, mushrooms, and creatures.  Not to mention, oaks are great trees for climbing, and, if big enough, lounging in. Oaks are trees in the genus Quercus, of which there are hundreds of species.