Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
The Trees and Shrubs Online Oak Consortium

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2021)

Recommended citation
Coombes, A. & Cameron, R. (2021), 'Quercus semecarpifolia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/quercus/quercus-semecarpifolia/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Genus

Quercus
Subgen. Cerris, Sect. Ilex

Common Names

Kharshu

Synonyms

Quercus obtusiloba D. Don
Quercus cassura Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

dbh: Diameter (of trunk) at breast height. Breast height is defined as 4.5 feet (1.37 m) above the ground.

References

Credits

Allen Coombes & Roderick Cameron (2021)

Quercus semecarpifolia, Chanshal Pass (3775 m), Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh, India, June 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

Trees 20–30 m tall, to 2m dbh or more, evergreen; forms a shrub in adverse conditions. Bark buff brown to dark gray, deeply fissured, forming small, rectangular scales. Young shoots with prominent reddish stellate hairs, glabrescent, becoming dark green, lenticellate; lenticels narrowly rounded. Petiole 2–6 mm, brown tomentose and with stellate hairs, glabrescent; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly so, 5–12 × 3–6.5 cm, abaxially with brown stellate hairs and scurfy powder, adaxially glabrescent or sparsely with stellate hairs, base shallowly cordate or auriculate to rounded, margin entire or (especially on young trees or shoots) with spiniform teeth, apex obtuse, rarely pointed; secondary veins 8–14 on each side of midvein; tertiary veins usually abaxially obscured by indumentum. Young leaves in dense rosettes; leaves emerge with tomentum on both sides, sparse above. Infructescence with 1 or 2 cupules, 2–7 cm, glabrous. Cupule shallowly bowl-shaped to discoid, 5–8 mm × 1.5–2.5 cm, at maturity inside wall usually in contact with nut only in region of scar, inside with a thick pale grayish brown indumentum; scales appressed, lanceolate, 2–3 mm, grayish pubescent, apex brown, rounded or acute. Nut purple-brown or blackish brown, subglobose, 1–2.5 cm long × 1.2–3 cm in diameter, glabrous or apex glabrescent; stalk 1–4 cm long; scar c. 6 mm in diameter, flat or slightly raised; stylopodium c. 1 mm in diameter. Acorns ripen in second year. (Huang et al.1999; le Hardÿ de Beaulieu & Lamant 2010 ).

Distribution Afghanistan Bhutan Myanmar China S Xizang (Tibet) India Himachal Pradesh Nepal Pakistan Thailand

Habitat Montane forests; 2600–4000 m asl, in association with Abies gamblei, A. pindrow, Juniperus squamata, Rhododendron arboreum, R. lepidotum, R. campanulatum, Ilex dipyrena, Viburnum cotinifolium, Taxus sp., Euonymus fimbriatus, Rhamnus purpureus, Meliosma dilleniifolia, and sometimes Tsuga dumosa and Cupressus torulosa.

USDA Hardiness Zone 8

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Quercus semecarpifolia grows in mountain climates (preferring north-facing slopes), where snow is more frequent than rain. It is often found at the treeline, except in places where it is replaced by Betula utilis. It grows both on rich, deep soils above limestone bedrock, and on poor, rocky terrain on ridges and steep slopes. It appears to tolerate acidic soils. Like Q. floribunda, its powerful roots make it resistant to wind, though its branches sometimes break under the weight of snow. Worth noting is the ornamental value of the golden catkins in spring, 6–12 cm long. The evergreen foliage, forming rosettes when young and with rust-coloured undersides, make this one of the most beautiful Asian oaks.

In England it appears to suffer in temperatures below –10 °C. In habitat, it is shielded from the rigours of winter by snow. It is probable that a conjunction of frigid temperatures and excessive rain causes it to fail in European gardens. Good drainage, a sunny location, and scarce winter rain should allow this species to thrive in cultivation (le Hardÿ de Beaulieu & Lamant 2010). Under natural conditions, germination takes place early in the rainy season. The nuts fall as soon as they ripen and germinate immediately, some even showing signs of germination before falling (Orwa et al. 2009).

Although described by Sir James Smith in 1814, it was probably not introduced to the UK till much later. Jovey Carlyon of Tregrehan, Cornwall, received seed from India in 1894 and three trees grown from them still stand, the tallest measuring 20 m (2014) (Chassé 2012; Tree Register 2020). In 1900, J.S. Gamble of East Liss, Hampshire, who had been a forester in India, received acorns from Chakatra in the N.W. Himalaya, from which two seedlings were raised which by 1909 were 3 and 5 m high respectively (Bean 1976). Of these one still exists in a garden on the Highfield Estate and measures 15 m × 0.85 m (2009). James Russell recorded in his notes (Yorkshire Arboretum records) ‘Harold Hillier says builders were about to fell these. He immediately obtained a preservation order and saved the remaining tree and grafted some scions of which the tree in the [Yorkshire] arboretum is one. This was cut back by the 81/82 winter but not by much and is now (1982) 6’ high. It was by pure chance that Harold happened to be driving through Liss at the critical moment. It too was badly cut by the 81/82 winter.’ The Yorkshire Arboretum specimen, perhaps the largest in northern England, was also hard-hit in the cold winter of 2010 and remained almost leafless until 2013, when it recovered and re-clad itself (J. Grimshaw pers. comm. 2021). The current UK champion is at Borde Hill, measuring 21 m × 38 cm dbh (2015) (Tree Register 2020). A tree given by Keith Rushforth is at Thenford, Northamptonshire, and three plants grown from seed collected by Christina Noble from 2150 m in Himachal Pradesh, India, in 2004 are at the Howick Arboretum. At Sir Harold Hillier Gardens it has reached 17.1 m × 49.7 cm dbh in 2020 (B. Clarke pers. comm.).

The specific epithet, often mis-spelt ‘semicarpifolia’, means ‘with leaves like Semecarpus’. In his original description, Smith remarked: ‘The aspect of the adult leaves is much like that of Semecarpus anacardium’ a species with fleshy fruits that yield a juice used as marking-ink and for decorating cloth. The name semecarpus derives from Ancient Greek σημεῖον (sēmeîon, ‘a mark’) and καρπὸν (karpon, ‘a fruit’).

Quercus semecarpifolia, Sangla Valley (4000m), Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh, India, October 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Chanshal Pass, November 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Khuliya top (3735m), Uttarakhand, India, April 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Hatu peak, November 2016. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Chanshal Pass, June 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Hatu peak, October 2018. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Khuliya top, April 2019. Image Gaurav Verma.

The base of an enormous Quercus semecarpifolia at 2,690 metres in the Dangchu valley, Bhutan. This marvellous tree has a crown spread of 38 metres and a trunk diameter of 5.75 metres at the base. October 2013. Image Shaun Haddock.

The first Quercus semecarpifolia planted in Europe, propagated from seed sent to Jovey Carlyon by Gilbert Rogers from India in 1894, Tregrehan Garden, June 2011. Image Charles Snyers.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Yorkshire Arboretum, Castle Howard, England, May 2012. Image Charles Snyers.

Quercus semecarpifolia, young tree, Herkenrode, Belgium, March 2019. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Acc 76.0873 X, Hillier Gardens, June 2011. Image Charles Snyers.

Quercus semecarpifolia leaves usually have 8–14 secondary veins on each side of midvein. Wild Garden, Nymans, England, July 2013. Image Charles Snyers.

The typical brown leaf undersides on Quercus semecarpifolia (graft from the Gamble tree of East Liss, K. Rushforth), Thenford House, May 2010. Image Charles Snyers.

The brown stellate hairs and scurfy powder that covers the undersides of the leaves of Quercus semecarpifolia appear golden when they catch the light. Hatu peak, November 2016. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia, Hatu peak, January 2017. Image Gaurav Verma.

The leaf margins of Quercus semecarpifolia sometimes feature spinyform teeth, especially on young shoots, as seen here in the historic tree at Tregrehan Garden, June 2011. Image Charles Snyers.

A typical rosette of leaves with new growth on Quercus semecarpifolia in Grigadale Arboretum, Argentina, March 2014. Image Roderick Cameron.

New growth and previous year's leaves on Quercus semecarpifolia in Grigadale Arboretum, October 2011. Image Roderick Cameron.

Young shoots on Quercus semecarpifolia emerge with prominent reddish stellate hairs. Jubilee Arboretum, Wisley, England, May 2010. Image Charles Snyers.

Quercus semecarpifolia in flower with Pinus yunnanensis, Yarlung Tsangpo, Tibet, June 2017. Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Quercus semecarpifolia catkins and leaf samples, Hatu peak (3400 m), Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh, India, June 2017. Image Gaurav Verma.

Unripe acorns on Quercus semecarpifolia, Hatu peak, June 2018. Image Gaurav Verma.

Quercus semecarpifolia acorns ripen in the second year. Hatu peak, June 2018. Image Gaurav Verma.

Handsome clusters of male racemes making quite a showy display on Quercus semecarpifolia at the Yorkshire Arboretum, June 2018. Image John Grimshaw.

Quercus semecarpifolia foliage on accession 19760873*X at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK (19 April 2010). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

More leaf shapes on Quercus semecarpifolia (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 19 April 2010). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.