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Lithocarpus cleistocarpus (Seem.) Rehd. & Wils.

Modern name

Lithocarpus cleistocarpus (Seemen) Rehder & E.H.Wilson

Synonyms

Quercus cleistocarpa Seem.; Q. wilsonii Seem.

An evergreen tree from 30 to 50 ft high; young shoots glabrous. Leaves oblong or narrowly oval, long and slenderly pointed, tapered at the base, quite toothless, 3 to 8 in. long, 1 to 212 in. wide, but on vigorous young plants as much as 1 ft long and 3 or 4 in. wide; greyish green, quite glabrous; midrib and veins yellowish, the latter in nine to twelve pairs; stalk 14 to 34 in. long. Acorn-cups 34 to 1 in. wide, densely clustered on a stiff spike 2 to 3 in. long, the acorns almost enclosed.

Native of W. Hupeh and Szechwan, China; introduced for Messrs Veitch by Wilson in 1901. In regard to the individual leaf this is probably the finest of the newer Chinese oaks. But it needs rather warmer conditions than our average climate affords to develop its best qualities. The finest plant in this country grows in the woods at Caerhays, in Cornwall, where it is of erect habit and vigorous growth, a most attractive evergreen. It measures 58 × 512 ft at 4 ft (1966). It should have shelter from wind. Wilson describes old trees as having a much-branched, wide-spreading, flattened crown.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The leaves of this species have a waxy coating, and show white cracks when bent (as in Viburnum cylindricum). There are two specimens at Caerhays Castle in Cornwall, and the measurement given on page 587 was of the smaller one. They measure 70 × 10 ft at 2 ft and 72 × 634 ft (1984).

Genus

Lithocarpus

Other species in the genus