Quercus hypophaea Hayata

SE Taiwan, 0 to 1100 m:

reaches 18 m high; trunk to 1.2 m in diameter and more;

5-9.5 x 1.5-2.3 cm; narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, or lanceolate or oval-lanceolate; subleathery; green and hairless above, tomentose beneath with stellate hairs; base acute or cuneate; apex pointed, acuminate; margin entire without teeth; midrib raised under; 8-14 slender vein pairs, not evident; petiole 5-10 mm, triangular in cross-section, densely tomentose;

December-January; male catkins 5 cm long; flowers with filaments glabrous, anthers puberulent; female inflorescences with flowers to 2 mm in diameter, with hairy ovaries and enlarged anthers at tip;

acorn 1.7-2 cm long, 1.3-1.8 cm in diameter, oblate to broadly ovoid or subglobose; shortly mucronate; basal scar 5-8 mm wide, slightly raised; cup enclosing only base of nut, flat, 1.6 cm in diameter, with 7-11 concentric crenate rings ; maturing in January or February of following year;

not hardy; in broad-leaves evergreen forests;

– A. Camus : tome 1, p. 364, n° 83; – Sub-genus Cerris, Section Cyclobalanopsis; – Section Lepidotricha ( Menitsky );