Lithocarpus edulis (Mak.) Nakai

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lithocarpus edulis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lithocarpus/lithocarpus-edulis/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Synonyms

  • Pasania edulis Makino
  • Quercus edulis Mak.
  • Quercus glabra var. sublepidota Bl.
  • Quercus glabra Sieb. & Zucc., not Thunb.
  • Quercus laevigata Hort., in part, not Bl.

Glossary

acorn
Fruit of Quercus; a single-seeded nut set in a woody cupule.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
midrib
midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.
synonym
(syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Lithocarpus edulis' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/lithocarpus/lithocarpus-edulis/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

An evergreen small tree up to 30 ft high, usually a shrub in this country, of spreading habit; young shoots glabrous. Leaves glabrous, narrowly oval or oblanceolate, tapered at both ends, blunt-pointed, entire, of hard, leathery texture, 312 to 6 in. long, 1 to 214 in. wide, glossy yellowish green above, dullish green beneath but with a slight silvery sheen due to the presence of minute scales; veins nine to eleven on each side the midrib; stalk 13 to 1 in. long. Acorns produced in triplets on stout woody spikes 2 to 3 in. long, but only an occasional acorn attains to full size, for which it requires two seasons; it is then about 1 in. long, 13 in. wide, pointed at the apex, bullet-shaped. The cup is about 14 in. deep.

Native of Japan; introduced in the first half of the 19th century but still uncommon in gardens. It is a distinct and handsome evergreen bearing a slight resemblance to Quercus acuta, which being a true oak has quite different flowers, and leaves of a deeper green, not so tapered at the base and distinctly woolly when young. The confusion between the two species may in part be due to the fact that L. edulis has been distributed under the erroneous name Quercus laevigata, which is properly a synonym of Q. acuta. It is also often wrongly called Q. glabra (see below).

L. edulis is quite hardy south of London in a sheltered position and occasionally produces fertile acorns.