Volume 9 > Part 3 > Year 2008 > Page 239 > Fagaceae > Castanopsis

31. Castanopsis thaiensis Phengklaiwfo-0000792525

Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 32: 117. 2004. Fig. 34.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, to 20 m high. Lateral buds flattened, 0.4–0.5 by 0.2 mm, scales hooked; terminal buds ovoid, 9–10 by 3–4 mm, scales imbricate, with adpressed silver hairs along the midline and near the apex outside. Leaves oblong or oblong-ellipic, 10–12 by 3–4 cm; base cuneate to obtuse, more or less equal sided; apex cuspidate, caudate or bluntly acute; margins serrate on ⅓ to the apex; subcoriaceous to coriaceous, glabrous except along midrib near base on the upper surface and densely short pubescent especially along nerves on the lower; midrib and lateral nerves prominent on the lower surface, more or less depressed on the upper; lateral nerves 12–15 pairs, rigid and curved near margins, scalariform veins distinct on the lower surface, subdepressed on the upper. Petiole 0.5–1 cm, densely blackish-grey hairy. Male inflorescence not seen. Female inflorescence spike or branched, spikelets terminal or axillary, 3–5 cm long, densely grey pubescent; bracts ca 10 by 3 mm, silver hairy outside. Male flowers solitary or in 1–2–3-flowered cluster; calyx 6-lobed, lobes ovate, sparsely hairy outside, ciliate; staminode 12, very short, glabrous; styles 3, hairy in lower half; stigmata pointed and divergent. Fruits sessile, ovoid, subdepressed, 1.5 by 2–2.5 cm (including cupule), on erect and infructescence 8–15 cm long. Cupule completely enclosing the nut except the umbo; wall sparsely covered with curved, woody, branched spines; dehiscent in 3–5 parts when dry. Nuts urceolate, triangular in outline, (1)–2–3 per cupule, glossy brown except the narrow apex, styles and stigmata persistent.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Nan (type: Larsen et al. 44319, holotype -AAU, isotype -BKF).

Distribution : Endemic to Thailand.

Ecology : Tropical evergreen rain forests, 800–1,000 m alt. Flowering: November; fruiting: October–November.

Vernacular : Ko khao kwang (ก่อเขากวาง), ko thai (ก่อไทย)(Northern).