Soi vo trang, Bai ke
Lithocarpus dealbatus

Family: Fagaceae

What it is like

An evergreen tree. It grows 5-20 m high. The trunk is 10-20 cm across. Many plant parts can have light brown hairs. The leaf stalk is 1-2 cm long. The leaf blade is oval or sword shaped and 7-14 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. They are thickly papery to leathery. They tend to be the same colour on both surfaces. There are usually 10-13 side veins on each side of the main vein. The male flowers are clustered at the ends of branches. There can be up to 15 flowers. The female flowering stalk can be 20 cm long. The cups are in clusters of 3. There is a single nut.

There are about 300 Lithocarpus species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows at the foot of mountains. It grows between 1,000 and 2,000 m altitude. It can grow on poor soils.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, Bhutan, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Laos, Myanmar, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Thailand, Vietnam

How it is used for food

The seed contains edible starch.

Edible parts

Seeds, nuts

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Kywet-sa-ni, Soi da trang, Thit-e

Synonyms

Quercus dealbata J.D.Hooker & Thomson ex Miqu.; Lithocarpus tapintzensis A.Camus; Lithocarpus viridis (Schottky)Rehder; Pasania dealbata (J.D.Hook.& Thomson ex Miqu.) Oersted; Pasania viridis Schottky; Pasania yenshanensis Hu; Quercus thalassica Hance var. vestita Franchet; Synaedrys dealbata (J.D.Hooker& Thomson ex Miquel) Koidzumi;