According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide To Trees, this tree also goes by the names "Valley White Oak" and "California White Oak."
Valley Oak is the largest western deciduous (leaf-shedding) tree in the US, and its acorns are an important food source for wildlife.
Acorns were an important staple food (up to 50% of their diet) for the native Ohlone (Costanoan) Indians that lived in the area from around 600 AD until the mid-1800's. That's when Spanish missionaries and an influx of Europeans contributed to their decline. Pre-Ohlone Indian populations lived in the Bay Area dating back to 4000 BC.
The Tamien light rail station was so-named (I'm guessing) after the Tamien dialect of the Ohlones. There were eight separate Ohlone subgroups, each speaking a distinct dialect. The Tamien subgroup lived in the Santa Clara Valley along the Guadalupe River.
[Photos: Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)]
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