Quercus variabilis

Quercus variabilis
Chinese Cork Oak
Chinese Cork Oak planted at Tortworth Court, England
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Section: Cerris
Species: Q. variabilis
Binomial name
Quercus variabilis
Bl.

Quercus variabilis (Chinese Cork Oak) is a species of oak in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, native to a wide area of eastern Asia in China, Japan, and Korea.

Contents

Description

It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree growing to 25-30 m tall with a rather open crown, and thick corky bark with deep fissures and marked by sinuous ridges. The leaves are simple, acuminate, variable in size, 8-20 cm long and 2-8 cm broad, with a serrated margin with each vein ending in a distinctive fine hair-like tooth; they are green above and silvery below with dense short pubescence.

The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins produced in mid spring, maturing about 18 months after pollination; the fruit is a globose acorn, 1.5-2 cm diameter, two-thirds enclosed in the acorn cup, which is densely covered in soft 4-8 mm long 'mossy' bristles.

  • Foliage and flowers

  • Trunk and bark of Chinese cork oak

  • Chinese Cork Oak planted at Meise, Belgium

Distribution and habitat

Evergreen and deciduous forests; below 3000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang Japan, Korea.[1]

Uses

It is cultivated in China to a small extent for cork production, though its yield is lower than that of the related cork oak. It is also occasionally grown as an ornamental tree.

Notes

  1. ^ eFloras, 2009

References

Stub icon This Fagales article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.