Deer Oak - cold tolerant, shade tolerant, full size acorns from an oak shrub

I came across this species last year while traveling over mountain passes, and decided to finally write a post about it now that the acorns I harvested have sprouted. Deer oak (Quercus sadleriana) is one of the few oak species which grows as an understory shrub, not an overstory tree. This makes it a rather unique oak species with incredible potential in the permaculture community. With other oaks, you must wait for the tree to grow 20+ feet tall before it begins to produce a crop, whereas a Deer oak is a small shrub 3-5 feet tall at maturity. With oak trees, you must wait for acorns to drop off the trees before you can harvest them, and only after birds, squirrels, weevils, and other critters have had first dibs. With an oak shrub, you can simply pick the acorns right off the shrub, no dangerous ladder required. Deer oak can tolerate cold and shade, in fact I found it growing underneath a stand of douglas firs, high in the mountains. Although it normally grows in Oregon and California, often near the snow line, it could potentially be grown at northern latitudes where little else grows(more research and experiminatation may be needed). My source lists them as hardy to zone 6b. As an understory, they can potentially take up space that would otherwise be wasted, such as the space underneath or between fruit trees. They have large, waxy leaves which improve water and sunlight efficiency, allowing them to grow in partial to full shade and making them drought tolerant to an extent. They also produce large acorns, about the same size as other oaks. I believe they are among the more bitter acorns, as rodents(?) dug up the ones I'd planted, then chose not to eat them. If cultivated for human food, they would definitely require leaching. I successfully germinated them by leaving them outside over the winter, buried in pots, and included a photo. They seem hesitant to show much growth above ground at this point, I believe they are trying to establish a bigger taproot before growing larger above ground, and the pots they are growing in do not allow the taproot to grow any longer.

Places they can be found growing wild include:
* along OR-42 between SouthPort OR and WinSton OR, on the mountain passes
* on NF-2402 (Chrome Ridge Rd) in Josephine County OR

Information, photos, further reading:
https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=7006
https://calscape.org/search/loc-California/Quercus-sadleriana-(Deer-Oak)?srchcr=sc60a5d5403bfa1
https://www.backyardnature.net/n/w/sadler-o.htm