''Quercus acuta'', the Japanese evergreen oak, is an oak native to

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 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, 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 ...

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

Province and

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Province. It is placed in subgenus ''Cerris'', section ''Cyclobalanopsis''.

Description

Due to its foliage and habitat, it looks rather unlike most other oaks. ''Quercus acuta'' is usually bushy and densely domed, reaching a height of 14 meters. The bark is smooth and dark grey. Leaves are dark and glossy above and yellowish beneath. They narrow to a long, finely-rounded tip. The flowers are on a stiff 5 cm catkin. Heartwood is pale reddish brown to reddish brown. Sapwood is pale yellowish brown with a slightly reddish color.

Common names

In Japan, it is called ''akagashi'' (赤樫 - あかがし), but is also known by the names ''oogashi'' (大樫 - オオガシ) and ''oobagashi'' (大葉樫 - オオバガシ). In the Korean language, it is 붉가시.

Uses

Like ''shirakashi'' (白樫 - しらかし) (

Quercus myrsinifolia ''Quercus myrsinifolia'' is an Asian species of tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It has several common names, including bamboo-leaf oak, Chinese evergreen oak, and Chinese ring-cupped oak. Its Chinese name is ; pinyin: , which means little leaf ...

), whose wood is often called shirokashi outside of Japan, and other related sub-genera, Japanese Evergreen Oak, or ''akagashi'', is a preferred choice for Japanese martial arts practice weapons such as

bokken A ''bokken'' (, , 'wood', and ''ken'', '(double-edged) sword') or ''bokutō'' (, , 'wood', and ''tō'', '(single-edged) sword') is a Japanese wooden sword used for training in kenjutsu. It is usually the size and shape of a ''katana'', but is so ...

.James Goedkoop: "Woods for Training Weapons". ''Aikiweb'

Accessed 10 November 2012. This is due to its uniformly tight grain structure resulting from its continuous growing season. It should not be confused with the oriental or Asian white oak, ''

Quercus aliena ''Quercus aliena'', the galcham oak or oriental white oak, is a species of oak in the family Fagaceae, in the white oak section ''Quercus''. Description It is a deciduous tree growing to tall with a trunk up to in diameter with fissured gray- ...

''.

References

acuta Trees of Japan Trees of Korea Trees of China Plants described in 1784 {{Quercus-stub