Quercus tarokoensis Hayata

East Taiwan (Taroko National Park); 400-1300 m; on steep slopes;

usually a shrub, but reaches 12 m tall;

2-4 x 1.5-2.8 cm; evergreen; leathery; oval-oblong; apex acute to obtuse; base more or less cordate; margin toothed (3-5 pairs of spiniform teeth); both faces hairless, but sometimes stellate hairs along midrib above and beneath; 5-8 pairs of secondary veins, parallel, inconspicuous above; petiole 3-5 mm long, brown tomentose;

June-July; male catkin tomentose, 3 cm long; 4-5 stamens with 2.5 long filament;

acorn ovoid or subglobose, 1.4-1.8 cm long, 0.8-1 cm wide, glabrous; enclosed 1/2 by cup; cup 1.2 cm wide, 0.7 cm high, with small, ovate to triangular, appressed, tomentose scales except at tip; small basal scar 3 mm in diameter; maturing the following year in November-December.

not hardy; prefers calcareous soils;

– A. Camus : tome 2, p. 19; – Belongs to the Sub-Genus Cerris, Section Ilex; – Differs from Q. spinosa in having more acute, smaller, thinner and less wrinkled leaves; – Close relationship with Q. variabilis, Q. dolicholepis and Q. baronii;