| English Name | Hairy Chestnut |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Vulnerable (VU). Wild plant under State protection (category II). Recorded in China Plant Red Data Book and Illustration of Rare & endangered plant in Guangdong Province. |
Description:
Evergreen trees, up to 20 m high; branchlets and abaxial surface of leaves yellowish brown tomentose. Leaves leathery, elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 5-10 cm long and 1.5-3.5 cm wide, margin entire or sparsely serrulate near apex. Infructescences 4-8 cm long. Cupule globose, 5-6 cm in diam., splitting into 4 regular segments, densely covered with clustered branching prickles. Nut 1 per cupule, depressed-globular, ca. 1 cm long, 1.4 cm in diam., densely pubesscent.
Distribution:
Deep Water Bay, Tai Wai, Tai Mo Shan. E Guangxi and W Guangdong.
Habitat and Ecology:
In evergreen forest. Flowering: April-May; fruiting: Sept.-Oct. of the following year.
The species is endemic species of China; its wood is hard, heavy and with beautiful colour and grains, which is greatly valued for furniture-making. Nuts, with the flavour of chestnut, are edible. The plants were logged elsewhere for its excellent timber. Its nuts are often damaged and consumed by insects and rodents. As a result, very few seedlings of the species can be seen and its regeneration is very poor. In Hong Kong, some localities of its wild occurrence are within Country Parks under protection. Living specimen are displayed in the Shing Mun Arboretum.
References:
傅立國，1992：中國植物紅皮書1：294。科學出版社，北京。
陳煥鏞、黃成就，1998：中國植物誌22：30，圖版5：5-7。科學出版社，北京。
Bentham, G., 1861: Flora Hongkongensis 319. Reeves, London.
Champion, J.G., 1854: Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany 6: 115.
