[4] Quercus dumosa is an evergreen shrub growing 1 to 3 metres (40–120 inches or 3–10 feet) tall from a large, deep root network.

The acorns are dispersed by gravity as they fall from the tree, and by animals that pick them up, such as squirrels and jays.

The current concept of Q. dumosa is limited to the populations of scraggly shrub oaks with short petioles, cordate leaf bases, erect curly trichomes on the abaxial leaf surface, and narrow, acute acorns which almost always occur at low elevations and very often within sight of the ocean.

[9] Quercus dumosa grows primarily in sandy soils such as sandstone near the coast.

This oak sprouts vigorously from its stump and root crown after wildfire and develops a large canopy within a few years after a fire event.