Lithocarpus edulis
Encyclopedia
Lithocarpus edulis is a species of stone-oak
native to Japan
. It is an evergreen
tree
growing up to 15 metres tall. The nuts are edible for people but taste bitter. The nuts contain tannin
s, however soaking them in water removes them. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant
.
Lithocarpus
Lithocarpus is a genus in the beech family Fagaceae, differing from Quercus in the erect male spikes. The World Checklist accepts 334 species, though some other texts suggest as few as 100 species. About 100 Asian species of the genus were formerly treated in the genus Pasania. All but one are...
native to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is an evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing up to 15 metres tall. The nuts are edible for people but taste bitter. The nuts contain tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
s, however soaking them in water removes them. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
.