''Chrysolepis'' is a small genus of plants in the family

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

, endemic to the western United States. Its two species have the common name chinquapin. The genus occurs from western Washington south to the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, and east into Nevada.

Description

''Chrysolepis'' are evergreen trees and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s with simple, entire (untoothed)

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

with a dense layer of golden scales on the underside and a thinner layer on the upper side; the leaves persist for 3–4 years before falling. The fruit is a densely spiny cupule containing 1–3 sweet, edible

nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

, eaten by the indigenous peoples. The fruit also provides food for chipmunks and squirrels. ''Chrysolepis'' is related to the subtropical southeast Asian genus '' Castanopsis'' (in which it was formerly included), but differs in the nuts being triangular and fully enclosed in a sectioned cupule, and in having bisexual

catkin A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in ''Salix''). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged cl ...

s. ''Chrysolepis'' also differs from another allied genus ''Castanea'' (chestnuts), in nuts that take 14–16 months to mature (3–5 months in ''Castanea''), evergreen leaves and the shoots having a terminal bud.

Species

There are two species of ''Chrysolepis'' — ''Chrysolepis chrysophylla'' and ''Chrysolepis sempervirens'' — which like many species in the related genera of '' Castanopsis'' and ''

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

'' are called chinquapin, also spelled "chinkapin".

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: Genus ''Chrysolepis'' Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Chrysolepis chrysophylla'' Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Chrysolepis sempervirens''

USDA Plants Profile: ''Chrysolepis''Flora of North America - ''Chrysolepis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q137054 Fagaceae Edible nuts and seeds Trees of the Southwestern United States Trees of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of California ~ Bird food plants Plants used in Native American cuisine Fagales genera