Carpinus tschonoskii ("Inushide")

Japanese name: イヌシデ （犬四手）
Scientific name: Carpinus tschonoskii

[Overview]
A deciduous tree 10–15 m tall, found in the mountains.
The bark is grayish brown, usually with grayish white vertical stripes.
Young branches are pale greenish brown and covered with white hairs.
The twigs are tinged with reddish brown.
The leaves are simple and alternate in two rows, ovate to obovate, 4–8 cm long and 2–4 cm wide.
There are 12–15 pairs of lateral veins.
The leaf margins have irregular fine double serrations.
The leaf stalks are densely covered with brown hairs.
The new buds are covered with abundant white hairs.
There are male and female flowers, both borne in catkins, and they open as the leaves unfold.
The male catkins are 4–5 cm long and hang down from the leaf axils of last year's branches; the female catkins are borne at the tips of new shoots.
The fruit is a nut enclosed in a bract.
The bract is long ovate, 1.5–3 cm long, with uneven serrations on one side only.
The fruit cluster is 4–12 cm long and hangs down.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, cuttings or layering.
It prefers a sunny site with soil that is well drained and retains water well.
Move potted plants to partial shade in midsummer so that the soil does not dry out too much.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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