The X-Files: the Mystery of Quercus ×munzii

Your Website Editor happened to come across a highly entertaining podcast focusing on a rare Californian oak hybrid. It is an episode on Completely Arbotrary, a podcast about trees and other related topics, hosted by Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson, which delivers hard science framed in plenty of silliness. The centerpiece of the episode is a dialogue done in the style of The X-Files, a popular series from the 90s—surely one of the most creative takes on Quercus taxonomy out there. If you have an hour in which your ears are free, you could do worse than listen to the botanical banter. It also has some valuable and accurate information about this rare taxon, Q.×munzii (Q. lobata × Q. cornelius-mulleri—though the parentage seems to be a matter of debate). And watch out for the mention of the IOS Tour of California at 40:30. Click here to access the podcast.