Bao li is a deciduous East Asian oak common in the woods of Japan, Korea, and China, with narrow leaves edged in many small, hooked teeth and small acorns in shallow cups. It doesn't grow wild in the US. It's also called jolcham oak.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A deciduous tree, usually about 50–80 ft (15–25 m) tall in the wild. Bark is gray or reddish brown with lengthwise furrows.
- Leaves
- Leaves are oval to obovate, 2–7 in (5–17 cm) long, tapered at both ends, with 6–12 hooked, gland-tipped teeth on each side. They're dark green above and grayish below.
- Flowers
- Like other oaks, it has dangling male and small female flower clusters in spring.
- Fruit
- Acorns are oval, about ¾ in (1.7–2 cm) long, and ripen in a single season. The shallow cup covers a quarter to a third of the nut.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- woodland
- hillsides
- Range
- Native to Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan, reaching west to Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the eastern Himalayas.
- Preferred conditions
- Grows in woods from about 330 to 6,600 ft (100–2,000 m) elevation.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- The American botanist Charles Sargent brought seed from Japan to the Arnold Arboretum in Massachusetts in 1893.
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