Volume 9 > Part 3 > Year 2008 > Page 191 > Fagaceae > Castanopsis

5. Castanopsis brevispinula Hickel & A.Camuswfo-0000812906

Bull. Soc. Bot. France: 395. 1922; Fl. Indo Chine 5: 1015. 1930. Fig. 8.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, 10–18 m high, 80–100 cm girth. Terminal buds ovoid, ca 3 mm in diam.; bracts pubescent outside. Twigs tomentose, then glabrescent, lenticellate. Stipules ovate, ca 2 by 1 mm, pubescent outside. Leaves oblong, 10–16 by 4.5–5 cm; base obtuse, slightly oblique, apex obtuse, blunt, acute or shortly acuminatel; margins entire; subcoriaceous, glabrous, glossy green on the upper surface and dull, pale on the lower; midrib and nerves prominent on the lower surface and subdepressed on the upper; lateral nerves 8–15, arched but not anastomosing, scalariform veins conspicuous on the lower surface and hardly distinct on the upper; reticulate veins slightly distinct on the upper surface. Petiole 1.5–2 cm, pubescent then glabrescent, blackish when dry. Inflorescences males and females separate or mixed, terminal and axillary, pubescent. Male inflorescence a branched panicle, 3–5 cm long; bracts and bracteoles triangular, 4–5 by 2 mm, pubescent outside. Male flowers solitary or in 2–3-flowered cluster; calyx 6 lobed, lobes triangular, ca 2 by 1 mm, hairy outside; stamens 10–12, 1.5–2 mm long, glabrous; rudimentary ovary globose, flattened on top, ca 1 mm in diam. Female inflorescence spike 8–15 cm long. Female flowers always solitary, not in clusters, other characters as in male flowers; styles 3, divergent, stigmata pointed. Fruits sessile, ovoid, ca 3 cm in diam.(including cupule), solitary or 2–3-clustered held by their spines, on erect infructescence, 8–20 cm long. Cupule enclosing up to ¾ of the nut; wall completely covered by the tufted, erect, simple spines. Nuts (2)–3 per cupule, ca 1 by 1.5 cm, pubescent then glabrescent; scar basal, ca 1 cm in diam.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Tak; NORTH-EASTERN: Loei; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi.

Distribution : Laos (type).

Ecology : Lower montane rain forests, lower montane pine-oak forests, 650–1,600 m (most commonly 1,000–1,400 m). Flowering: March–June; fruiting: March–November (most commonly March).

Vernacular : Ko kan (ก่อกัน)(Northern).