Volume 9 > Part 3 > Year 2008 > Page 211 > Fagaceae > Castanopsis

15. Castanopsis hystrix (Hook.f. & Thomson ex Miq.) A.DC.

J. Bot. 1: 128. 1863; Prodr. 16.2: 111. 1864; King ex Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 620. 1888; Hickel & A.Camus, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 1025. 1930; Barnett, Quer. Rel. Fag. Asia: 416. 1940.— Castanea hystrix Hook.f. & Thomson ex Miq., Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi 1: 199. 1863. Fig. 18.

Accepted Name : Castanopsis purpurella (Miq.) N.P.Balakr.
Fl. Jowai 2: 458. 1983.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Tree, up to 10 m high. Terminal buds ovoid, 6–7 by 3 mm; bracts broadly ovate, sparsely pubescent outside; axillary buds as the former but smaller. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, 6–10 by 2–3.5 cm; base obtuse to slightly cuneate; apex acuminate, sometimes minutely retuse; margins entire or serrate in upper half; chartaceous or subcoriaceous, glabrous on the upper surface and reddish hairy on the lower; midrib prominent on the lower surface and faint or subdepressed on the upper; lateral nerves 8–12 pairs, often hidden by indumentum, scalariform veins hardly distinct. Petiole 1–1.5 cm, slender, glabrous. Inflorescences male and female separate or mixed, slightly erect, axillary. Male inflorescence a spike or few branched, spike or spikelets 8–10 cm long, pubescent. Male flowers solitary or in 1–3-flowered cluster; bracts and bracteoles ovate, 1–1.5 by 0.2 mm, pubescent outside; calyx 6-lobed, lobes ovate, divided at or near base, ca 1 by 0.5 mm, sparsely pubescent outside, glabrous inside, ciliate; stamens 12, 2–3 mm long, glabrous; rudimentary ovary ovoid, ca 1 mm in diam., hirsute. Female inflorescence not seen. Fruits sessile, ovoid, 2–2.5 cm in diam. (including cupule), 3–5 fruits in each cluster, on erect infructescence 8–15 cm long, fruits fused by their spines. Cupule completely enclosing the nut except the umbo; wall with simple and branched pubescent spines, spines brittle, erect and horizontal. Nuts 1–(2–3) per cupule, ovoid ca 1.5 by 1 cm, sparsely silky hairy, glabrescent.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Doi Suthep).

Distribution : India (type), Burma, Laos, Vietnam, China, Taiwan.

Ecology : Lower montane rain forests.

Vernacular : Ko daeng (ก่อแดง)(Northern).