''Quercus leucotrichophora'' is a tree belonging to Family

Fagaceae The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

; commonly known as Banjh oak, Banj oak (

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

) and Ban oak (

Himachal Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

). In Nepal, it is known as ''Banjhi'', ''Rainj'', ''Khasarant'', ''Tikhe bhanjh'' in standard Nepali and ''Sulsing'' in

Tamang language Tamangic language is spoken mainly in Tamangsaling Land in Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal (Darjeeling) and North-Eastern India. It comprises Eastern Tamang, Northwestern Tamang, Southwestern Tamang, Eastern Gorkha Tamang, and Western Tamang. L ...

. It is classified in subgenus ''Cerris'', section ''Ilex''. Some authors named it as ''Quercus incana'' Roxburgh, which is now treated as a synonym.

Description

''Quercus leucotrichophora'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree bearing stalked, ovate to lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, leathery, and dark green

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

which are glabrous above and densely white or gray pubescent beneath. The male flowers are slender and drooping spikes. The female spikes are sessile and axillary. There is a solitary

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 ...

. ''Quercus leucotrichophora'' flowers in April to May and fruits in December. Naturally, it regenerates via seeds.

Distribution and ecology

''Quercus leucotrichophora'' is distributed in

Northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. In Nepal, it naturally occurs at in forested areas in association with ''

Rhododendron arboreum ''Rhododendron arboreum'', the tree rhododendron, is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a showy display of bright red flowers. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand. It is the national flower of ...

'', ''

Lyonia ovalifolia ''Lyonia ovalifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Ericaceae. This plant is Native to Himalaya, Nepal, China, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. It is known as Anyaar in India and Angeri in Nepal. Poisoning One ca ...

'', and '' Myrica esculenta''. On south-facing slopes and disturbed areas it forms associations with ''

Pinus roxburghii ''Pinus roxburghii'', commonly known as chir pine or longleaf Indian pine, is a species of pine tree Native plant, native to the Himalayas. It was named after William Roxburgh. Description ''Pinus roxburghii'' is a large tree reaching with a ...

'' (chir pine). The fungus '' Lactarius abbotanus'' forms ectomycorrhizae with the roots of this tree. Its branches are festooned with a variety of

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

epiphytes An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

, parasitic creepers, and other life forms that provide spaces for many creatures. The tree is affected with many types of leaf

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

s caused by different types of insects. Many

Cecidomyiidae Cecidomyiidae is a family of diptera, flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small in ...

genera such as ''

Asphondylia ''Asphondylia'' is a cosmopolitan genus of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. All species in this genus induce galls on plants, especially on flowers and flower buds. There are over 300 described species in the genus ''Asphondylia'', with ...

'', '' Lasioptera'' and ''

Dasineura ''Dasineura'' is a genus of midges in the family Cecidomyiidae, some of which cause galls on plants such as ''Dasineura crataegi'' on hawthorn (''Crataegus monogyna'') and ''Dasineura fraxinea'' on ash (''Fraxinus excelsior ''Fraxinus excels ...

'' are known to cause plant galls. An unknown Itonididae (cecidomyiid) caused pouch leaf galls on the tree.Mishra, P., and V. Patni. "Anatomical changes and development of Cecidomyiid leaf gall of Quercus leucotrichophora-Himalayan white oak." J Mycol Pl Pathol 38.2 (2008): 203–207.

Uses

The Banj oak is among the most useful trees of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. It is extensively lopped (or branch pruned) for

fuelwood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets. Firewood can be se ...

and its wood has a high

calorific value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy release ...

and good burning properties. The leaves are extensively used as a cattle fodder. The

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

is rich in

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

and makes an excellent compost fertilizer. The timber, while hard and strong and used for agricultural implements, is not particularly valuable as it is hard to work.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6324876 leucotrichophora Plants described in 1935 Trees of the Indian subcontinent Taxa named by Aimée Antoinette Camus