Castanopsis fabri

Hance

Luo fu zhui

Fagaceae Edible: Nuts 389 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by

Description

A tree. It grows 8-20 m tall. The young shoots have a few hairs. The leaf stalk can be 1.5 cm long. The leaf blade is oval or sword shaped. It is 8-18 cm long by 2.5-5 cm wide. It is leathery. The base is rounded and unequal on each side. The edges have teeth. It tapers to the tip. There are 9-15 side veins on each side of the mid vein. The mid vein is sunken. The stalk of the male flowers has a few hairs. The female flowers are 2-3 per cup. The flowering structure is 8-17 cm long. The cup is 2-4 cm across. It splits open irregularly. There are usually 2 nuts per cup but there can be 1 or 3. The nuts are cone shaped and 1-1.4 cm across by 1-1.2 cm wide.

Edible Uses

The nuts are edible and eaten.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in broad leafed evergreen forest between 100-2000 m altitude.

Where It Grows

Asia, China, Indochina, Laos, SE Asia, Taiwan, Vietnam,

Notes

There are about 120 Castanopsis species. Many have edible nuts.

Synonyms

Castanopsis brevispina HayataCastanopsis brevistella Hayata & Kanchira ex A. CamusCastanopsis ceratacantha Rehder & E.H.Wilson var. semiserrata (Hickel & A Camus) A.CamusCastanopsis hickelii A.CamusCastanopsis kusanoi HayataCastanopsis matsudai Hayata ex A.CamusCastanopsis ninbienensis Hickel & A.CamusCastanopsis quangtriensis Hickel & A.CamusCastanopsis semiserrata Hickel & A.CamusCastanopsis sinsuiensis KanehiraCastanopsis stellatospina HayataCastanopsis tenuispinula Hickel & A.CamusCastanopsis traninhensis Hickel & A.Camus

References (3)

Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 644
Huang Chengjiu, Zhang Yongtian, Bartholomew, B., Fagaceae, Flora of China.
J. Bot. 22:230. 1884