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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Lithocarpus''
| image = Lithocarpus edulis Nakai leaf acorn.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Lithocarpus edulis'', [[Kantō region]], [[Japan]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Fagaceae]]
| genus = '''''Lithocarpus'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carl Ludwig Blume|Blume]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
'''''Lithocarpus''''' is a genus in the [[beech]] family [[Fagaceae]], differing from [[Quercus]] in the erect male spikes. The Kew Checklist (see link below) accepts 334 species, though some other texts suggest as low as 100 species. All but one are native to east and southeast [[Asia]]; the single exception, ''Lithocarpus densiflorus'' ('''[[Tanoak]]'''), being native to western [[North America]] in southwest [[Oregon]] and [[California]]. The Asian species do not have a well-known English vernacular name, though the generic term '''stone oak''' has been proposed.
Although normally included in ''Lithocarpus'', recent genetic evidence ([http://www.faculty.biol.ttu.edu/cannon/pdfs/manos01.pdf ''Int. J. Plant Sci.'' 162(6): 1361–1379. 2001; pdf file]) suggests that the North American species is only distantly related to Asian species; it may be better transferred to a genus of its own.
They are [[evergreen]] [[tree]]s with leathery, alternate [[leaf|leaves]], which may be either entire or toothed. The [[seed]] is a [[nut (fruit)|nut]] very similar to an [[oak]] [[acorn]], but with a very hard, woody nut shell (hence the genus name, from Greek ''lithos'', stone, + ''carpos'', seed). The nut kernel is edible in some species (e.g. ''Lithocarpus edulis''), but inedible, and very bitter, in others (e.g. ''L. densiflorus'').
Several of the species are very attractive ornamental trees, used in [[park]]s and large [[garden]]s in warm temperate and subtropical areas.
;Selected species
*''[[Lithocarpus cleistocarpus]]''
*''[[Lithocarpus densiflorus]]'' - [[Tanoak]]
*''[[Lithocarpus edulis]]'' - Japanese Stone Oak
*''[[Lithocarpus glaber]]''
*''[[Lithocarpus henryi]]'' - Henry's Stone Oak
*''[[Lithocarpus pachyphyllus]]''
==External links==
A full list of the species and their synonyms can be seen by entering ''Lithocarpus'' in the search box in the [http://www.kew.org/wcsp/home.do Kew Checklists]. The [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=118733 Flora of China Online] includes descriptions of the 123 [[China|Chinese]] species.
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Lithocarpus''
| image = Lithocarpus edulis Nakai leaf acorn.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Lithocarpus edulis'', [[Kantō region]], [[Japan]]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Fagaceae]]
| genus = '''''Lithocarpus'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carl Ludwig Blume|Blume]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
'''''Lithocarpus''''' is a genus in the [[beech]] family [[Fagaceae]], differing from [[Quercus]] in the erect male spikes. The Kew Checklist (see link below) accepts 334 species, though some other texts suggest as low as 100 species. All but one are native to east and southeast [[Asia]]; the single exception, ''Lithocarpus densiflorus'' ('''[[Tanoak]]'''), being native to western [[North America]] in southwest [[Oregon]] and [[California]]. The Asian species do not have a well-known English vernacular name, though the generic term '''stone oak''' has been proposed.
Although normally included in ''Lithocarpus'', recent genetic evidence ([http://www.faculty.biol.ttu.edu/cannon/pdfs/manos01.pdf ''Int. J. Plant Sci.'' 162(6): 1361–1379. 2001; pdf file]) suggests that the North American species is only distantly related to Asian species; it may be better transferred to a genus of its own.
They are [[evergreen]] [[tree]]s with leathery, alternate [[leaf|leaves]], which may be either entire or toothed. The [[seed]] is a [[nut (fruit)|nut]] very similar to an [[oak]] [[acorn]], but with a very hard, woody nut shell (hence the genus name, from Greek ''lithos'', stone, + ''carpos'', seed). The nut kernel is edible in some species (e.g. ''Lithocarpus edulis''), but inedible, and very bitter, in others (e.g. ''L. densiflorus'').
Several of the species are very attractive ornamental trees, used in [[park]]s and large [[garden]]s in warm temperate and subtropical areas.
;Selected species
*''[[Lithocarpus cleistocarpus]]''
*''[[Lithocarpus densiflorus]]'' - [[Tanoak]]
*''[[Lithocarpus edulis]]'' - Japanese Stone Oak
*''[[Lithocarpus glaber]]''
*''[[Lithocarpus henryi]]'' - Henry's Stone Oak
*''[[Lithocarpus pachyphyllus]]''
==External links==
A full list of the species and their synonyms can be seen by entering ''Lithocarpus'' in the search box in the [http://www.kew.org/wcsp/home.do Kew Checklists]. The [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=118733 Flora of China Online] includes descriptions of the 123 [[China|Chinese]] species.
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
