Quercus stenophylla - Quercus stenophylla

Japanese: マテバシイ - まてばしい

An evergreen tall tree of the Fagaceae family (APG classification: Fagaceae). It can reach a height of 10-15 meters and a diameter of 1 meter. It has a strong tendency to sprout and often grows in clumps. The bark is almost smooth and dark brownish blue-gray. The leaves are concentrated at the ends of the branches, leathery, 10-20 centimeters long, and without sawtooth. Both the female and male inflorescences are spike-shaped and grow diagonally upwards from the axils of the new shoots in early summer. The flowers are insect-pollinated. The nuts ripen in the autumn of the following year, are shallowly enclosed in the cupule, and are 2-3 centimeters long. They are brown with a white powdery coating, have indistinct horizontal rings, and are slightly concave at the base. They have no astringent taste and can be eaten raw. There are several theories about the origin of the Japanese name "Matebashii", including one that says it is because the leaves resemble the shape of a shell, and another that it means that although it tastes less good than Japanese chinquapin, "if you wait, it will produce delicious fruit like Japanese chinquapin fruit", but the reason is unclear. It grows wild near the coasts from Kyushu to Okinawa, where it can withstand sea breezes and serve as a windbreak. It is also widely planted from Honshu to Okinawa. It is resistant to pollution and is often used as a greening tree in cities. Its twigs are thin and branch out, and are also used to fill cracks in seaweed. There are over 300 species of the genus Matebashii in the warm temperate and tropical regions of Asia, and it is particularly common in China, where it is given the character "K" (柯) to distinguish it from the very similar genus Castanopsis (栲) (栲).

[Shinsuke Hagiwara January 21, 2020]

Cultural history

The fruit can be eaten without soaking it, so it is thought to have been a valuable food source for the Jomon people, and fruits with teeth marks have been excavated from shell mounds from the early Jomon period in Kamo, Chiba Prefecture. In Boso and other areas, the seeds are ground into powder and boiled for consumption. In the Honzo Komoku Keimo (1803-1806), it is described as Satsuma-shii, but in the Kii Zoku Fudoki (beginning of compilation in 1806), it is listed as Matemashii along with Satsuma-shii, but in the Kumano Bussan Shoshi (1848), it is only named as Matebashihi. It is said that this is because its leaves resemble the shape of a mategai, but in Kyushu and Chiba Prefecture, it is also widely known as Matejii, which is said to be because its fruit, which is longer and thinner than a shii, resembles a mategai. The name was given because both the leaves and fruit resemble shellfish.

[Hiroshi Yuasa January 21, 2020]

Lithocarpus edulis fruit
The leaves are concentrated at the ends of the branches, leathery and without sawtooth. The nuts ripen in the autumn of the following year and are shallowly enclosed in the cupule. They are brown with white powder and are 2-3cm long. ©Shogakukan Photo by Okuyama Hisashi ">

Lithocarpus edulis fruit

Acorn (specimen drawing)
©Masayoshi Umebayashi ">

Acorn (specimen drawing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ブナ科（APG分類：ブナ科）の常緑高木。高さ10～15メートル、直径1メートルに達する。萌芽(ほうが)性が強く、株立ちになることが多い。樹皮はほぼ平滑で暗褐青灰色。葉は枝先に集中してつき、革質で長さ10～20センチメートル、鋸歯(きょし)はない。雌花序、雄花序とも穂状で、初夏新芽の腋(えき)から斜め上に出す。花は虫媒花。堅果は翌年の秋熟し、殻斗(かくと)に浅く包まれ、長さ2～3センチメートル。褐色で白粉を帯び、不明瞭(ふめいりょう)な横輪が入り、底の着点はややへこむ。渋味がなく生食できる。和名マテバシイの語源には諸説があり、葉がマテガイの形に似ているから、という説や、シイより味が落ちるが「待てばシイの実のようにうまい実がなる」という意味である、という説などがあるが、はっきりしない。九州から沖縄の海岸近くに自生し、潮風に耐え、防風林とする。また、本州から沖縄まで、植栽されたものが広く見られる。公害にも強く、都市の緑化樹としてよく用いられる。小枝は細く分枝し、ノリのひびにも使われる。マテバシイ属はアジアの暖帯から熱帯に300種以上あり、とくに中国に多く、柯の字をあて、よく似ているシイ属（栲の字をあてる）と区別している。

［萩原信介　2020年1月21日］

文化史

果実はあく抜きせずに食べられるので、縄文時代人の重宝な食糧であったとみられ、千葉県加茂の縄文前期の貝塚からは、歯形のついた果実が出土している。房総などでは種子をひいて粉にし、ゆでて食べた。『本草綱目啓蒙(ほんぞうこうもくけいもう)』（1803～1806）では薩摩椎(さつましい)として記述されているが、『紀伊続風土記(きいぞくふどき)』（1806年編纂(へんさん)開始）には薩摩椎とともに末天葉椎(まてはしい)の名があがっているが、『熊野物産初志』（1848）では「マテバシヒ」の名のみとなる。マテバシイはその葉がマテガイの形に似るからともされるが、九州や千葉県ではマテジイの名も広く、これはシイよりも細長い果実がマテガイに類似するからといわれる。葉も果実もマテガイを思わせるのでつけられた名といえよう。

［湯浅浩史　2020年1月21日］

マテバシイの果実

どんぐり〔標本画〕

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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