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Fagus longipetiolata Seemen

Modern name

Fagus longipetiolata Seemen

Synonyms

F. sylvatica var. longipes Oliver; F. sinensis Oliver

A deciduous tree up to 80 ft high, with pale grey bark and glabrous young shoots. Leaves ovate (sometimes narrowly so) broadly wedge-shaped, rarely rounded at the base, gradually tapered to a point, sharply but shallowly toothed or merely wavy at the margin, 212 to 512 in. long, 112 to 234 in. wide, dark bright green above, rather glaucous and covered with fine down beneath, veins in nine to thirteen pairs; leaf-stalk 12 to 118 in. long. Husks up to 1 in. long, covered with slender, curled bristles; stalk 112 to 2 in. long, downy near the husk only.

Native of Central and W. China; discovered by Henry; introduced in 1911. Wilson observes that, whilst at its best it is a stately tree which resembles F. crenata in general appearance, it is usually rather small. Its leaves in size and shape resemble those of the American F. grandifolia, but the leaf-stalk is much longer. This length of leaf-stalk combined with the closely downy undersurface of the leaves, their ovate shape, and the long slender stalk of the husk make the species very distinct.

F. lucida Rehd. & Wils., was discovered in Hupeh, China, by Henry about 1887 and twenty years later by Wilson; plants introduced by the latter in 1911 are in cultivation. He found it a tree from 20 to 30 ft high, with a ‘broad, flattened or rounded crown’. The leaves are very distinct. They are ovate, 2 to 4 in. long, 1 to 214 in. wide, glossy green on both surfaces, the veins running out from the undulated margins to form small but distinct teeth. Husks covered with short, appressed, deltoid appendages. A tree at Nymans in Sussex appears to be F. lucida; it measures 39 × 214 ft (1970).



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

No specimen of this species has been recorded. But there are two that probably belong to the related F. lucida, which is mentioned under it on page 176: Nymans, Sussex, 39 × 214 ft (1970) and Thorp Perrow, Bedale, Yorks., 36 × 234 ft (1981).

Genus

Fagus

Other species in the genus