''Castanea seguinii'', called Seguin chestnut, Seguin's chestnut, or Chinese chinquapin (a name it shares with ''

Castanea henryi ''Castanea henryi'', Henry chestnut, Henry's chestnut, or Chinese chinquapin (a name it shares with '' Castanea seguinii''), pearl chestnut, and in , ''zhui li'', is a species of chestnut native to south-central and southeast China. A tree reachi ...

''), and in , ''mao li'', is a species of

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

native to southcentral and southeast China.

Description

''Castanea seguinii'' are small trees or shrubs, rarely reaching 12m. Their stipules are narrowly lanceolate, 0.7 to 1.5cm long, and are shed (become deciduous) when the plant is in fruit. Leaf petioles are 0.5 to 1.5cm long. Leaves are 6 to 14cm long, with their abaxial sides covered with yellowishbrown to gray scaly glands, and have sparse hairs along the veins when young. Leaf blades are oblongobovate to ellipticoblong in shape, with bases rounded or infrequently subcordate, but cuneate when young, with acuminate apices. Leaf margins are coarsely serrate. Male inflorescences are 5 to 12cm long and catkinlike. Female inflorescences are held in a cupule, with one to two (rarely more) flowers in each. Cupules are 3 to 5cm wide, and covered with sparsely pilose spiny bracts which are 6 to 10mm long. Each cupule produces two or three nuts, rarely more, with each nut being 1.5 to 2.0cm in diameter.

Ecology

''Castanea seguinii'' grow in mixed mesophytic forests and thickets from 400 to 2000m in elevation. Their bark is eaten by golden snubnosed monkeys (''

Rhinopithecus roxellana The golden snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus roxellana'') is an Old World monkey in the subfamily Colobinae. It is endemic to a small area in temperate, mountainous forests of central and Southwest China. They inhabit these mountainous forests ...

'') in winter. In their native habitat they flower in May through July, and fruit from September to November.

Uses

Its nuts are small, but are edible and occasionally cultivated or collected in the wild and consumed by locals. Locals also practice coppicing for firewood. Another use in China is as a

trap crop A trap is a device used for trapping animals. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * Trap (2015 film), ''Trap'' (2015 film), a Filipino film * Trap (2024 film), ''Trap'' (2024 film), an American film by ...

for '' Dryocosmus kuriphilus'' gall wasps. By planting a hedge of ''C.seguinii'' around '' C.mollissima'' (Chinese chestnut) orchards, the wasps will first encounter and attack the buds of the less valuable ''C. seguinii'', allowing the galled twigs to be cut off and destroyed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4218279 seguinii Endemic flora of China Trees of China Plants described in 1908