日本栗 ri ben li

Castanea japonica Blume; C. stricta Siebold & Zuccarini.

Trees or shrubs to 15 m tall. Petiole 0.5-2.5 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 8-19 cm, abaxially tomentose and covered with yellowish brown to yellowish gray scalelike glands, base broadly cuneate, rounded, or rarely subcordate, margin finely serrate, apex acuminate to acute; secondary veins ending on teeth and often reduced to long bristlelike points. Male inflorescences 7-20 cm. Female flowers 3 per cupule. Cupule 5-6 cm in diam., covered with spinelike bracts 1-1.5 cm. Nuts 2 or 3 or rarely more per cupule, 2-3 cm in diam., apex sparsely covered with appressed pubescence. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Sep-Oct.

Cultivated. Jiangxi (Lu Shan), Liaoning, Shandong (Qingdao Shi), Taiwan [native to Japan, S Korea]

Castanea crenata was introduced from Korea about 1910; var. dulcis Nakai has been reported from NE China, but probably only var. crenata is grown.