Fall foliage developing on a daimyo oak in the main Oak Collection at the Arboretum.
Daimyo oak (Quercus dentata) is a medium sized tree native to Japan, Korea, and China. It’s egg-shaped leaves are among the largest in the oak genus, reaching up to a foot long and seven inches wide. Another salient feature are the acorns, whose bristly cupolas cover nearly half the nut, making them look like little hedgehogs when they fall among the leaves in autumn.
In the latest issue of the Arboretum Bulletin, writer Daniel Mount profiles the plant and writes about the eight mature specimens in the Arboretum, which date back to the late 1930s.