Chrysolepis chrysophylla | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Fagaceae |
Genus: | Chrysolepis |
Species: | C. chrysophylla |
Binomial name | |
Chrysolepis chrysophylla | |
Natural range of Chrysolepis chrysophylla | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Chrysolepis chrysophylla is a species of flowering shrub or tree in the beech family known by the common names golden chinquapin, giant chinquapin, and western chinquapin. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States. [2]
Shrubby forms of the plant occur in dry areas, higher elevations, and poor soils. The plant grows into a tree up to 45 metres (148 ft) tall in cooler, moister areas such as valley bottoms and north-facing slopes, and foggy and rainy areas. The trunks can reach up to 90 centimetres (35 inches) in diameter. The bark is reddish, [3] thin and smooth on young trunks; on older specimens it becomes thicker and platy. The open crown of the large tree is conical in shape. The leathery evergreen leaves are dark green on the upper sides and golden underneath. The leaves are 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 in) long [3] and folded upward along the midrib. The species is monoecious, with individuals bearing both male and female flowers. White male flowers are borne in the leaf axils, and a cluster of female flowers is borne beneath them. A spiny bur contains one to three nuts, each about 1 cm in diameter. [3] There is generally a burl at the base of the tree. The tree may sprout from adventitious buds in the burl, a form of vegetative reproduction that is more common in dry areas where it is less likely that seedlings would become established. The tree may live up to 500 years. [2] [4] [5]
The species resembles tanoak, but has chestnutlike fruit instead of an acorn. [3]
Chrysolepis chrysophylla is endemic to the Pacific coast of the United States, growing from extreme southern Washington through western Oregon, south to west-central California. It grows in climax forests dominated by redwood, white fir, western hemlock, and Shasta red fir, or mixes of tree types. It may be an understory shrub, or it may codominate the canopy as a tree. Habitat types where the tree may be found include coastal forests, woodlands, and chaparral. In the western Cascade Mountains it grows in western hemlock forests. In the southern Cascades it grows at higher elevations but takes on a smaller, shrubbier form. [2] It can be found growing up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft) above sea level. [3]
The tree is shade intolerant, thus requiring occasional disturbances to propagate. Contrarily, the shrub form can tolerate shade and is relatively indifferent to disturbances. Older trees become affected by heart rot. [3]
The nuts are commonly eaten by squirrels and chipmunks. [6]
The tree has a heavy, strong wood which is light brown with a pinkish tinge. It rarely grows in large enough quantities to serve commercial purposes. [3]
The nut is edible, having a flavor similar to the hazelnut or filbert. [2] They were consumed by Native Americans. [3]
Western white pine, also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America. It is the state tree of Idaho and is sometimes known as the Idaho pine.
Alnus rubra, the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America.
Chrysolepis is a small genus of plants in the family Fagaceae, endemic to the western United States. Its two species have the common name chinquapin. The genus occurs from western Washington south to the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, and east into Nevada.
Abies grandis is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California of North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to 1,700 metres (5,600 ft). It is a major constituent of the Grand Fir/Douglas Fir Ecoregion of the Cascade Range.
Castanopsis, commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. A total of 58 species are native to China, with 30 endemic; the other species occur further south, through Indochina to Indonesia and the Philippines, mountainous areas of Taiwan, and also in Japan. The English name chinkapin is shared with other related plants, including the golden chinkapins of the Pacific United States, which are sometimes included within Castanopsis but are more often considered a separate but very closely related genus, Chrysolepis.
Tsuga heterophylla, the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California. The Latin species name means 'variable leaves'.
Abies procera, the noble fir, also called red fir and Christmas tree, is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of 300–1,500 meters (980–4,920 ft).
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.
Abies amabilis, commonly known as the Pacific silver fir, is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range. It is also commonly referred to as the white fir, red fir, lovely fir, Amabilis fir, Cascades fir, or silver fir. The species name is Latin for 'lovely'.
Cascade Head is a headland and 270-acre (110 ha) UNESCO biosphere reserve and United States Forest Service Experimental Forest. It is situated 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Portland, Oregon on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Neskowin. Cascade Head Preserve is a Nature Conservancy Selected Site.
California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon.
Aesculus californica, commonly known as the California buckeye or California horse-chestnut, is a species of buckeye native to California and southwestern Oregon.
Castanea pumila, commonly known as the Allegheny chinquapin, American chinquapin or dwarf chestnut, is a species of chestnut native to the southeastern United States. The native range is from Maryland and extreme southern New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania south to central Florida, west to eastern Texas, and north to southern Missouri and Kentucky. The plant's habitat is dry sandy and rocky uplands and ridges mixed with oak and hickory to 1000 m elevation. It grows best on well-drained soils in full sun or partial shade.
The Ecology of the North Cascades is heavily influenced by the high elevation and rain shadow effects of the mountain range. The North Cascades is a section of the Cascade Range from the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River in Washington, United States, to the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers in British Columbia, Canada, where the range is officially called the Cascade Mountains but is usually referred to as the Canadian Cascades. The North Cascades Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion in the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's classification system.
Rhododendron menziesii, also classified as Menziesia ferruginea, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, known by several common names, including rusty menziesia, false huckleberry, fool's huckleberry and mock azalea.
The Mediterranean California lower montane black oak–conifer forest is a major forest association and ecosystem of the California mixed evergreen forest bioregion in certain mountain ranges in California and southern Oregon in the Western United States; and Baja California in northwest Mexico.
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, also known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia.
Eucephalus vialis is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name wayside aster. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northwestern California in the United States.
Mixed coniferous forest is a vegetation type dominated by a mixture of broadleaf trees and conifers. It is generally located in mountains, below the upper montane vegetation type.