Quercus variabilis

Chinese cork oak is in the section Quercus, sect. Cerris in the beech or Fagaceae family, and is native to a wide area of eastern Asia in southern, central, and eastern China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. It is a medium-sized tree, growing to 30 m tall.

The tree is occasionally cultivated in China for cork from the bark, although its yield is much lower than cork oak (Quercus suber).

• Leaves are deciduous, simple, 8–20 cm long and 3.1–7.9 cm broad, with a serrated margin with each vein ending in a distinctive fine hair-like tooth; they are green above and silvery below with dense short pubescence, tapering to a long point.
• Flowers are wind-pollinated catkins produced in mid-spring and maturing in 18 months.
• Fruit is a globose acorn 1.5–2 cm long and 0.6–0.8 cm in diameter, with a cup with densely covered in soft bristles 4–8 mm long covering 2/3 of the nut.