Chrysolepis sempervirens (Kellog) Hjelmq

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The genus Chrysolepis Hjelmq., the name being composed by “χρυσός” (chrysós = gold) and “λεπίς” (lepίs = scale) due to the numerous golden yellow glands present on the surface of various organs of the plant, consists of two species: Chrysolepis chrysophylla (Douglas ex Hook.) Hjelmq. and Chrysolepis sempervirens (Kellog) Hjelmq.

This latter is commonly known as “Bush golden chinquapin” or “Sierra chinquapin“; according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ‘chinquapin’ or ‘chinkapin’ is a word that probably derives from the Algonquian-speaking Native Americans of Virginia, who with the term “chechinquamin” indicated some plants of different genera of Fagaceae that produce fruits enclosed in a very spiny cupule (commonly called “bur” or “burr”) containing one single fruit (C. pumila (L.) Mill. and C. dentata (Marshall) Borkh.); subsequently the term was extended to the North-American Castanopsis (D.Don) Spach and from there even to the Asian ones. This word remained in common use for the two North-American species also when the genus Chrysolepis was created for them.

Chrysolepis sempervirens is a 20-150(250 cm) tall shrub with an expanded crown wider than high and with branches, horizontal to erect, smooth, grey or pale brown; twigs are covered by a thick yellowish down of peltate hair whilst the buds are small, sessile, and largely ovoid. As underlined by the specific name, the plant is evergreen and its leaves, spirally alternate, have the blade, oblong to oblanceolate with a more or less obtuse apex, 15-80 (100) mm long and 12-25 mm broad, with the entire margin; the blade is thick and leathery, above glossy and dark green, below, initially pubescent and gold to rusty, then more or less glabrous and glaucescent; the petiole, 10-15 mm long, is oriented forward.

The root system has a rhizomatous appearance and can easily differentiate suckers that then growing increase the extent of the root system and, consequently, also that of the plant.

The species is monoecious with flowers carried by unisexual spiciform inflorescences, usually staminate or androgyn, erect, united in small groups and inserted on the shoot in a subapical position; the flowers have the calix with free sepals, the staminate ones have a ‘crown’ of 6-15 stamens surrounding a sterile pistillode, while the pistillate ones, enclosed by 1 to 3 (or more) at the time, inside the cupule , are inserted in the basal portion or, but rarely, are placed on only short pistillate spikelets.

Flowering occurs in summer (July-August) and the pollen grains are dispersed by the wind even if insects may accidentally cover themselves with pollen and become ‘involuntary pollinators’.

The fruit ripens in two years, has a trigonal shape and is 8-13 mm long with hard, lignified, glabrous, glossy brown outer teguments; is completely enclosed in the golden yellow, globose, (2-6 cm of diameter) bur, which contains 1-3 fruits and is made up by 7 valves, 5 external and 2 internal; the latter ones separate the fruits from each other; the valves are free and not fused and are covered by a thick layer of thorns even ramified and very prickly. Although if not particularly sought by man, the fruits are edible; of them, however, are particularly greedy the squirrels.

Chrysolepis sempervirens - Monaco Nature Encyclopedia

 

https://youtu.be/h0Eor4YaO2U

Chrysolepis sempervirens - Monaco Nature Encyclopedia

 

https://youtu.be/YXPZuVcHtAQ?t=1061