''Castanopsis sieboldii'', also known as the Itajii chinkapin or Itajii, is a species of

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

tree that lives in subtropical eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. This is a

climax species Climax species, also called late seral, late-successional, K-selected or equilibrium species, are plant species that can germinate and grow with limited resources; e.g., they need heat exposure or low water availability. They are the species wit ...

that is commonly found in the

Japanese temperate rainforest The Japanese temperate rainforest is located in the Japanese archipelago, in small batches over a wide range of islands, from Kyushu in the South to Hokkaido in the North. Due to its geographic features and climate, the Japanese temperate rainfores ...

. Specimens are also present within the forest area of the

Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...

. ''Castanopsis sieboldii'' was once thought to be a subspecies of the similar ''

Castanopsis cuspidata ''Castanopsis cuspidata'' (Japanese chinquapin; Japanese tsuburajii, 円椎) is a species of ''Castanopsis'' native to southern Japan and southern Korea. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 20–30 m tall, related to beech and oak. T ...

''. Plants and animals associated with this tree include: *''

Aspidistra elatior ''Aspidistra elatior'', the cast-iron-plant or bar-room plant, also known in Japanese as ''haran'' or ''baran'' (葉蘭) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Japan and Taiwan. Tolerant of neglect, it is widely cu ...

'', the cast-iron plant, grows in the understorey. *''

Acrocercops mantica ''Acrocercops mantica'' is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from China (Guangdong), Hong Kong, India (Meghalaya), Indonesia (Java), Japan (Tusima, the Ryukyu Islands, Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū), Korea and Nepal. The wingspan is ...

'', ''

Chrysocercops castanopsidis ''Chrysocercops castanopsidis'' is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is known from Japan (Honshū, Iriomote, Isigaki, Okinawa and Shikoku). The wingspan is about 6.2–8 mm. The larvae feed on ''Castanopsis cuspidata'', ''Castanopsi ...

'', and ''

Lymantria albescens ''Lymantria'' is a genus of tussock moths in the family Erebidae. They are widely distributed throughout Europe, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Java, and Celebes. The genus was erected by Jacob Hübner in 1819. Description In the male, the p ...

'' larvae of these Asian moths likely

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves. *''

Amantis nawai ''Amantis nawai'' is a small species of praying mantis native to eastern Asia. Description *Females: , micropterous *Males: in length, micropterous or macropterous Distribution It is found in China, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan; in Japan on Honshu, S ...

'', a small

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

species native to

Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

is known to live around ''C. sieboldii'' where it eats insects. *

Okinawa rail The Okinawa rail (''Hypotaenidia okinawae'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the . Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 a ...

, a Japanese bird, lives among these trees.

Gallery

File:Castanopsis sieboldii flower female.jpg, Flower, female File:Castanopsis sieboldii nuts01.jpg, Nuts File:Castanopsis sieboldii5.jpg, Bark

References

External links

sieboldii {{Fagales-stub