Quercus ^"^11 



QUERCUS DENTATA 



Quercus dentata, Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 177 (1784), and Ic. PI. Jap. dec. 5, t. 6 (1794); Franchet et 

 Savatier, Enum. PI. Jap. i. 445 (1875); Sargent, Forest Flora Japan, 67, t. 23 (1894); Skan, 

 \nJourn. Linn. Soc. {Bot.), xxvi. 511 (1899) ; Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. Forest. Japon, text 52, t. 27, 

 figs. 1-15 (1900). 



Quercus obovata, Bunge, Enum. PI. China, 62 (1835). 



Quercus Daimio, Koch, Dendrologie, ii. 2, p. 45 (1873). 



Quercus yunnanensis, Franchet, mjourn. de Bot. 1899, p. 146. 



A tree, occasionally attaining 80 ft. in height and 10 ft. in girth. Young 

 branchlets covered with a dense brownish or greyish tomentum, retained in the 

 second year. Buds tomentose, the terminal one surrounded by persistent stipules. 

 Leaves (Plate 337, Fig. 43) deciduous in autumn, 8 to 12 in. long, 3 to 6 in. broad, 

 obovate, acute or rounded at the apex, cuneate or subcordate at the base, with six 

 to nine pairs of small rounded lobes ; margin ciliate ; upper surface pubescent on 

 the midrib and nerves, elsewhere glabrous or with scattered hairs ; lower surface 

 pale, sparsely covered with a minute stellate pubescence ; petiole \ X.o \ in. long, 

 tomentose. 



Fruit ripening in the first year, clustered, sub-sessile or stalked ; acorn sub- 

 globose ; cupule covered with long tomentose scales, those in the basal ranks ovate- 

 oblong, obtuse, and spreading, those towards the rim linear, acute, and reflexed. 



This species displays a considerable amount of variation in the wild state, and 

 several varieties ^ have been distinguished, none of which are in cultivation. The 

 following remarkable variety is cultivated in Japanese gardens, but does not seem 

 to have been introduced : — 



I. Var. pinnatifida, Matsumura. 



Quercus pinnatifida, Franchet et Savatier, Enum. PL Jap. i. 445 (1875), and ii. 497 (1879). 



Leaves deeply lobed, almost to the midrib. 



This species is a native of Japan, Korea, Chinese Manchuria, and China. In 

 Japan, according to Sargent, it is found in central Hondo only on the high moun- 

 tains, where it is not at all common ; but in the extreme northern part of the island 

 it appears in great numbers on gravelly slopes at no great height above the sea- 

 level. In Yezo, where Elwes collected it at Asahigawa, it grows on low ground 

 with Q. grosseserrata, and though it attains a height of 80 ft., is not a fine or 

 imposing tree. Mayr mentions as remarkable its occurrence on volcanic sands, and 

 states that its bark is the most valuable tanning material in Japan, and recommends 

 it for planting on sand dunes. The wood, according to Sargent, is coarse-grained, 

 porous, and brittle, and worthless except for firewood. 



In China it is common on poor soil on low hills in the northern provinces, and 



» Var. M'Cormickii, Skan, loc. cit. ; var. oxyloba, Franchet, in >«ra. de Bot. xiii. 146 (1899). Q. yunnanenHs, 

 Franchet, loc. cit., is also a peculiar form, occurring in Yunnan. 



