''Quercus dentata'', also called Japanese emperor oak, daimyo oak, or Korean oak (, ''kashiwa''; ; , ''tteokgalnamu''), is a species of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

native to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

(

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

). The name of the tree is often translated as "sweet oak" in English to distinguish it from Western varieties. It is placed in section ''Quercus''.

Description

''Quercus dentata'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing up to tall, with a trunk up to in diameter. Its foliage is remarkable for its size, among the largest of all oaks, consisting of a short hairy petiole, long, and a blade long and broad, with a shallowly lobed margin; the form is reminiscent of an enormous

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soi ...

leaf. The leaves are often retained dead on the tree into winter. Both sides of the leaf are initially downy with the upper surface becoming smooth. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced in May; the male flowers are pendulous

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''). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arra ...

s. The female flowers are sessile, growing near the tips of new shoots, producing

acorn The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...

s 1.2–2.3 cm long and 1.2–1.5 cm broad, in broad, bushy-scaled cups; the acorns mature in September to October.

Cultivation outside East Asia

''Quercus dentata'' was introduced to the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

in 1830, where it is occasionally grown in

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

s. It is usually smaller in cultivation than in the wild, growing to a small angular tree or large irregular shrub. Notable specimens include one at

Osterley Park Osterley Park is a Georgian era, Georgian country estate in west London, which straddles the London boroughs of London Borough of Ealing, Ealing and London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a ...

, tall and 1.5 m girth, and the largest, tall, at Avondale Forest Park,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, Ireland.

Culinary uses

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine is the set of foods and culinary styles which are associated with Korean culture. This cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient Prehistoric Korea, agricultural and nomad ...

, its acorns (in

Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 도토리, ''dotori'') have been used since the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

. A notable food is '' dotorimuk''. In

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...

, its leaves are used as a wrapping for

kashiwa mochi Kashiwa mochi (Japanese: かしわ餅, 柏餅) is a Wagashi, wagashi (Japanese confection) of white mochi surrounding a sweet ''anko'' (red bean paste) filling with a ''Quercus dentata, kashiwa'' (oak tree, oak) leaf wrapped around it. Unlike the ...

.''Quercus dentata'', with photos (pdf file; in Japanese)
/ref>

References

External links

*
line drawing, Flora of China Illustrations vol. 4, fig. 360, 1
{{Authority control dentata Flora of China Flora of Japan Flora of Korea Trees of Asia Least concern plants Least concern biota of Asia Plants described in 1784 Taxa named by Carl Peter Thunberg