Chinese cork oak is an East Asian oak whose bark builds up into thick, spongy, deeply furrowed cork — up to 4 in (10 cm) deep. It is native to China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan and is not found wild in the United States, where it is grown in arboreta and botanical gardens.
Appearance
- Appearance
- The pale gray, corky bark is thick and deeply furrowed, reddish brown inside.
- Growth form
- A deciduous tree reaching 65–100 ft (20–30 m) with a rounded to spreading crown.
- Leaves
- Narrow, leathery leaves 3–6 in (8–15 cm) long, edged with bristle-tipped teeth. The underside is gray-white and velvety. Fall color is bright yellow.
- Flowers
- Wind-pollinated appear in mid-spring.
- Fruit
- Acorns are about 1 in (2.3–2.7 cm) long and take two seasons to ripen. The cup covers half to two-thirds of the nut and is shaggy with long, curled-back scales.
Look-alikes
Sawtooth oakQuercus acutissima
Flip a leaf: Chinese cork oak is whitish underneath, while sawtooth oak is green. Mature Chinese cork oak also has much thicker, spongier cork bark and smaller leaf teeth.
Why they get mixed upSawtooth oak is widely planted in the eastern U.S. and has the same long, bristle-toothed leaves and shaggy acorn cups.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Hill and mountain forests
- Arboreta and parks
- Range
- Native to much of China, plus Taiwan, Korea, and Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu). In the U.S. it is known only as a planted tree, for example at the Morton Arboretum and Chicago Botanic Garden (Illinois), the Morris Arboretum (Pennsylvania), the U.S. National Arboretum (Washington, D.C.), and the Washington Park Arboretum (Seattle).
- Preferred conditions
- In the wild it grows in evergreen and deciduous forests, sometimes in pure stands, up to about 9,800 ft (3,000 m). In cultivation it is rated hardy to USDA zone 5.
Growing it
- Propagation
- Acorns sprout right after they fall, rather than waiting for spring.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- In China it is harvested on a small scale for cork, though it yields less than the Mediterranean cork oak. Its logs are also used to grow the medicinal reishi mushroom.
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