Biology:Quercus variabilis
| Chinese cork oak | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Fagaceae |
| Genus: | Quercus |
| Subgenus: | Quercus subg. Cerris |
| Section: | Quercus sect. Cerris |
| Species: | Q. variabilis
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| Binomial name | |
| Quercus variabilis | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Quercus variabilis, the Chinese cork oak, is a species of oak in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, native to a wide area of eastern Asia in southern, central, and eastern China , Taiwan, Japan , and Korea.[3]
Description
Quercus variabilis is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree growing to 25–30 metres (82–98 feet) 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 centimetres (3 1⁄4–7 3⁄4 inches) long and 2–8 cm (3⁄4–3 1⁄4 in) 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.[3]
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 (5⁄8–3⁄4 in) diameter, two-thirds enclosed in the acorn cup, which is densely covered in soft 4–8 millimetres (3⁄16–5⁄16 in) long 'mossy' bristles.[3][4]
Foliage and flowers
Trunk and bark of Chinese cork oak
Chinese cork oak planted at Meise, Belgium
Distribution and habitat
The species can be found in evergreen and deciduous forests below 3,000 m (9,800 ft), in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, as well as in Japan and Korea.[3]
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. For pharmaceutical grade production of Ganoderma lucidum, known in China as ‘the mushroom of immortality,’ the dead wood logs of Q. variabilis are used.[5]
References
- ↑ Carrero, C. (2019). "Quercus variabilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T194243A2305772. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T194243A2305772.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/194243/2305772. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ↑ "Quercus variabilis Blume". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew). http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-175660.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Huang, Chengjiu; Zhang, Yongtian; Bartholomew, Bruce, "Quercus variabilis", Flora of China, 4, http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006306
- ↑ Blume, Carl Ludwig von (1850) (in Latin). Museum Botanicum. 1. p. 297. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.274. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/274.
- ↑ Shilin Chen et al. (2012). "Genome sequence of the model medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum.". Nature Communications 3 (913): 913. doi:10.1038/ncomms1923. PMID 22735441. Bibcode: 2012NatCo...3..913C.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Quercus variabilis. |
- line drawing, Flora of China Illustrations vol. 4, fig. 359, 2
- line drawing, Manual of Vascular Plants of the Lower Yangtze Valley China Illustration fig. 57
Wikidata ☰ Q192608 entry
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