''Castanopsis cuspidata'' (Japanese chinquapin;

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

tsuburajii, 円椎) is a species of ''

Castanopsis ''Castanopsis'', commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. A total o ...

'' native to southern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and southern

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. It is a medium-sized

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 In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 20–30 m tall, related to

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are 5–9 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, leathery in texture, with an entire or irregularly toothed margin. It grows in woods and ravines, especially near the sea. The

cotyledon A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The numb ...

of the

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

is eaten boiled or roasted. Its dead wood serves as host to many mushroom types, including the ''

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

'', which literally means ''Castanopsis'' mushroom.

Gallery

File:Castanopsis cuspidata1.jpg, Bark of base of mature tree File:Shinomura-Hachiman-gû Shintô Shrine - Castanopsis cuspidata.jpg, Tall trunk of mature tree File:Castanopsis cuspidata4.jpg, Slender, fountain-like canopy of mature specimen, viewed from beneath File:Castanopsis cuspidata.JPG, Mature, deep green leaves File:Castanopsis cuspidata kz04.jpg, Flowering shoots File:Castanopsis cuspidata kz02.jpg, Closeup of slender inflorescences File:Castanopsis cuspidata nuts, by Omar Hoftun.jpg, Edible seeds/nuts File:Castanopsis cuspidata (Thunb.) Schottky (AM AK375744-2).jpg, Preserved specimen from herbarium, with descriptive notes File:Lentinula edodes USDA.jpg, Dead trunk, with

fruiting bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

References

External links

* (enter "''Castanopsis cuspidata''" in search box). cuspidata Edible nuts and seeds Trees of Asia Trees of Japan Trees of South Korea {{Fagales-stub