Quercus variabilis
| Quercus variabilis | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 98' |
| Blooms: | Early Spring-Mid Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Quercus variabilis (common name: chinese cork oak)
Propagation: Seed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees[1]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly.
Cultivation: Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side[2][1]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[3]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[3].
Prefers warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, trees often grow poorly in this country and fail to properly ripen their wood resulting in frost damage overwinter[3].
A very ornamental tree[2].
Closely related to Q. acutissima[2].
Trees respond well to coppicing[4].
The seed ripens in its second year[3].
Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young[1].
Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[3].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[3].
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat: Mixed woods, occasionally in pure stands, 800 - 1600 metres in W. China[4]. Evergreen and deciduous forests below 3000 metres[5].
Edibility: Seed - cooked[6][7]. Very nutritious, but it needs to be leached[8]. The seed is up to 2cm long[3]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The seed contains bitter tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost. Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream. Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
Medicinal: Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[9].
Usage: A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth[10].
Oak galls are excrescences that are sometimes produced in great numbers on the tree and are caused by the activity of the larvae of different insects. The insects live inside these galls, obtaining their nutrient therein. When the insect pupates and leaves, the gall can be used as a rich source of tannin, that can also be used as a dyestuff[9].
The bark is a source of cork[1][11]. A 10 metre tall tree at Kew has less than 4cm thickness of cork on it[K].
A black dye is obtained from the seed cupules[12][4].
The bark is used for roofing[4].
Wood. Used for boat making and construction[4].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in medium and heavy soils.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
Seed Ripens: Mid Fall-Late Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Also Known As: Q. bungeana. Q. chinensis. non Abel.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Wilson, Ernest and Charles Sargent. Plantae Wilsonianae.
- ↑ Flora of China. 1994.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes. Garden Way, 1978.
- ↑ Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th edition. 1982.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.