Japanese oak, Glabrous tan oak
Lithocarpus glaber

Family: Fagaceae

What it is like

A tree. It grows to 15 m tall. The small branches have a light brown coating. The leaf stalk is 1-2 cm long. The leaf blade is oval and 6-12 cm long by 2.5-5.5. cm wide. It is leathery to thickly papery. It has dense scale like glands. The base is wedge shaped. There are 2-4 teeth near the tip. There are about 10 secondary veins each side of the main vein. The male flower can be in a cluster or singly. It is in the axils of leaves and is 10 cm long. The female flower often has a few male flowers. The nut is 1.2-2.5 cm long by 0.8-1.5 cm wide.

There are about 300 Lithocarpus species.

Where it is found

It is a subtropical plant. In China it grows in mixed forest on sunny slopes below 1500 m altitude. Lithocarpus glabra in Melbourne Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 7-9.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan (country/location of origin), SE Asia, Taiwan

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Seeds, nuts

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by seeds.

Its other names

Local names

Ke, Pohon pasang jepang

Synonyms

Quercus glabra Thunb.; Kuromatea glabra (Thunb.) Kudo; Lithocarpus thalassicus (Hance) Rehder; Pasania glabra (Thunb.) Oersted; Pasania sieboldiana (Blume) Nakai; Pasania thalassica (Hance) Oersted; Quercus sieboldiana Blume; Quercus thalassica Hance; Quercus thalassica var. obtusiglans Dunn; Synaedrys glabra (Thunb.) Koidzumi;