SSBMI Language Department

• Babák tends to grow in the lower-elevation foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

• Babák is called a "live oak" in English because, unlike other oaks, it retains its leaves year-round and so appears "alive" in the winter. Its leaves are variable - young babák have spiny leaves that become round as the tree matures.

• Babák hybridizes naturally with hámsɨ (black oak), producing a tree called an oracle oak (Quercus × morehus) that grows where the two species overlap.
• Babák often grow in close association with toon (foothill gray pine) and poló (california buckeye) across the range of all three species (USDA).
• Like those of other oak species, the uutí (acorns) of babák are edible.

Esak’ahá daak’ábe mi c’aykɨ́ɨ? (Do you want to know more?) This webpage is part of a larger initiative to share signage highlighting plants found around the Shingle Springs Rancheria and their Nisenan names.