Quercus acutissima

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Fagales

Familia: Fagaceae
Genus: Quercus
Subgenus: Q. subg. Quercus
Species: Quercus acutissima
Subspecies: Q. a. subsp. acutissima – Q. a. subsp. kingii
Name

Quercus acutissima Carruth., 1862
Synonyms

Homotypic
Quercus acutissima subsp. euacutissima A.Camus, Chênes, Texte 1: 571 (1938), not validly publ.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Asia-Temperate
Regional: Indian subcontinent
Assam, East Himalaya, Nepal
Regional: China
China North-Central, China South-Central
Regional: Eastern Asia
Japan, Korea, Manchuria
Continental: Asia-Tropical
Regional: Southeastern Asia
Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
Introduced into:
Alabama, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Carruthers, W., 1862. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society. Botany. London 6:33.

Additional references

Govaerts, R. & Frodin, D.G. (1998). World Checklist and Bibliography of Fagales: 1-408. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Chang, C.S., Kim, H. & Chang, K.S. (2014). Provisional checklist of vascular plants for the Korea peninsula flora (KPF): 1-660. DESIGNPOST.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Quercus acutissima in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jun 27. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Quercus acutissima in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jun 27. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Quercus acutissima. Published online. Accessed: Jun 27 2021.
Tropicos.org 2021. Quercus acutissima. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jun 27.
Hassler, M. 2021. Quercus acutissima. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jun 27. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2021. World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. . Quercus acutissima. Accessed: 27 Jun 2021.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Quercus acutissima in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Japanische Kastanien-Eiche
English: Sawtooth Oak
magyar: Hegyeslevelű tölgy
日本語: クヌギ
한국어: 상수리나무

Quercus acutissima, the sawtooth oak, is an Asian species of oak native to China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Indochina (Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia) and the Himalayas (Nepal, Bhutan, northeastern India).[2] It is widely planted in many lands and has become naturalized in parts of North America.[3]

Quercus acutissima is closely related to the Turkey oak, classified with it in Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that mature in about 18 months.[2]

Description
Acorns from Quercus acutissima

Quercus acutissima is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 25–30 metres (82–98 ft) tall with a trunk up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. The leaves are 8–20 centimetres (3.1–7.9 in) long and 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) wide, with 14-20 small saw-tooth-like triangular lobes on each side, with the teeth of very regular shape.[2]

The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins. The fruit is an acorn, maturing about 18 months after pollination, 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long and 2 cm broad, bicoloured with an orange basal half grading to a green-brown tip; the acorn cap is 1.5–2 centimetres (0.59–0.79 in) deep, densely covered in soft 4–8 millimetres (0.16–0.31 in) long 'mossy' bristles. It is closely related to Quercus cerris, classified with it in Quercus sect. Cerris, a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that mature in about 18 months.[2]
Ecology

The acorns are very bitter, but are eaten by jays and pigeons; squirrels usually only eat them when other food sources have run out. The sap of the tree can leak out of the trunk. Beetles, stag beetles, butterflies, and Vespa mandarinia gather to reach this sap.
Uses

Sawtooth oak is widely planted in eastern North America and is naturalized in scattered locations;[3] it is also occasionally planted in Europe but has not naturalised there. Most planting in North America was carried out for wildlife food provision, as the species tends to bear heavier crops of acorns than other native American oak species; however, the bitterness of the acorns makes it less suitable for this purpose, and sawtooth oak is becoming a problematic invasive species in some areas and states, such as Louisiana.[4] Sawtooth oak trees also grow at a faster rate which helps it compete against native trees. The wood has many of the characteristics of other oaks, but is very prone to crack and split and hence is relegated to such uses as fencing.[5]

Charcoal made using this wood is used especially for the braisers for heating water for the Japanese tea ceremony.
References

"Quercus acutissima Carruth.". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List.
Huang, Chengjiu; Zhang, Yongtian; Bartholomew, Bruce. "Quercus acutissima". Flora of China. 4 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
"Quercus acutissima". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
"BONAP's Query Page".
Edward F. Gilman and Dennis G. Watson. 1994. Quercus acutissima Figure 1. Mature Sawtooth Oak. Sawtooth Oak. United States Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service Fact Sheet ST-540