Quercus crispula var. crispula (mizunara)

Japanese name: ミズナラ （水楢）
Scientific name: Quercus crispula var. crispula

[Overview]
A deciduous tree up to 30 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m in diameter.
It is found in mountains and often grows mixed with Buna.
The bark splits irregularly lengthwise.
Leaves are simple and alternate, obovate, 7–15 cm long.
The upper surface of the leaf at first has soft hairs, but later becomes hairless.
The underside has silky hairs and fine hairs and is pale green.
The leaf margin has coarse teeth.
The leaf base is rounded and ear-shaped, and the leaf stalk is very short.
The leaves usually turn yellow in autumn.
There are male flowers and female flowers.
The male flowers form catkins 6–8 cm long, sparsely covered with soft hairs, and hang several at a time from the lower part of the new shoots.
The female flowers are borne 1–3 at a time in the leaf axils in the upper part of the new shoots.
The fruit is an elliptic nut (acorn) 2–3 cm long and 1.2–1.5 cm wide that ripens in autumn of the same year; the cupule (acorn cap) is cup-shaped, and the involucral scales are arranged like overlapping roof tiles.

[Uses]
The wood is used for bed logs for shiitake cultivation and for furniture.
It is also prized for casks in which whisky is aged.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
The germination rate drops if acorns are allowed to dry, so sow them immediately after collecting, or store them kept moist until spring.
It prefers a sunny, airy, well-drained, fertile soil that is slightly moist.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter and slow-release fertilizer in autumn.

[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the large amount of water contained in the wood.

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