Fagus crenata (Japanese beech, "Buna")

Japanese name: ブナ （橅）
Scientific name: Fagus crenata

[Overview]
A representative deciduous tree of temperate regions; large specimens reach 30 m in height and 1.5 m in trunk diameter.
The trunk is grayish white and smooth, often mottled by lichens growing on it.
Young branches are at first covered with yellowish-brown hairs.
Leaves are simple and alternate, ovate, 4–9 cm long, with blunt serrations on the margin.
There are 7–11 pairs of lateral veins, arranged almost parallel.
The leaf stalk is 0.5–1 cm.
The leaves are hairy when young, but later become almost hairless except on the veins.
There are male and female flowers; the male inflorescence is a head with a stalk 1–3 cm long, hanging from the leaf axils at the base of the current year's branches.
The female inflorescence is a head with a stalk 0.5 cm long, standing upright from the leaf axils at the upper part of the current year's branches, and bears two female flowers enclosed in an involucre.
The involucre is covered with linear scales.
The fruit is a nut that ripens in autumn of the same year; it is triangular-pyramidal, about 1.5 cm long, and edible without any astringency.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
The germination rate drops if the fruits are dried, so sow them immediately or store them kept moist until spring.
It prefers a somewhat cool climate.
It prefers sun, good air circulation, good drainage, and fertile, slightly moist soil.
When planted in the ground it becomes a large tree, so it needs plenty of space.
For potted plants and for plants in the ground less than 2 years after planting, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
For established plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient, but it is good to plant ground cover or protect the base with straw or similar so that it does not dry out.
Apply organic fertilizer around the plant as fertilizer in winter.
Pruning is hardly necessary, but if done, thin out branches during the dormant season.
Pests include the larvae of longhorn beetles (teppo-mushi).

[Notes]
It resembles Inu-buna, but can be distinguished by the hairs on the leaves, the number of lateral veins and so on.

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