A deciduous tree often 60 to 80 ft high, with a broad compact head of tortuous branches; buds 3⁄8 in. long and, like the young shoots, densely clothed with reddish-brown down. Leaves obovate in main outline but with two or three deep, rounded or blunt lobes at each side, the base usually wedge-shaped, 2 to 5 in. long, not so wide, dark shining green and glabrous above, more or less downy and conspicuously veined beneath; stalk downy, 1⁄2 to 1 in. long. Fruits stalkless, usually solitary; acorns oval or obovoid, about 1 in. long, the base enclosed in a shallow, downy cup.
Native of western N. America, from British Columbia to N. California. This tree bears considerable resemblance to our native oak in shape of leaf and acorn, but is very distinct in the hairy shoots and large downy winter-buds. It has many times been introduced to this country, but I have never seen other than quite small trees, and it is evidently not well adapted to our climate. Douglas named it after his friend, Nicholas Garry of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who greatly assisted him in his early journeys.
There is a specimen in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, pl. 1924, measuring 26 × 3 ft.