Zhui li, Conic chestnut
Castanea henryi

Family: Fagaceae

What it is like

A tree. It grows to 30 m tall. The leaf stalk is 1-2.5 cm long. The leaf blade in oblong and 10-23 cm long. Underneath it is covered with yellowish brown scale like glands. There are fine hairs along the veins. The leaf base is rounded. There are teeth 2-4 mm long around the edge. The leaf tapers to a point. The male flower is 5-16 cm long. There is normally one but sometimes 3 female flowers in a group. The cup is on a short spike. The cup is 2.5-3.5 cm across. This is covered with slightly hairy spine like bracts. There is one nut per cup. It is round and 1.5-2 cm across.

All Castanea bear edible nuts. There are about 12 Castanea species.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. It grows in mixed forest on mountain slopes between 100-1800 m altitude in China.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, China

How it is used for food

The small nuts have good flavour.

Edible parts

Seeds, nuts

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed. Seedlings need transplanting very early.

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Castanopsis henryi Skan; Castanea sativa Miller var. acuminatissima Seemen; Castanea vilmoriniana Dode;