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Quercus crispula, commonly known as 'water oak' (Japanese: 水楢, Hepburn: mizunara), Japanese oak and Mongolian oak, is a deciduous broad-leaved tree of the genus Quercus. Quercus mongolica var. crispula, it is considered a variety of Quercus mongolica by some authorities, and is widely distributed in Northeast Asia from Sakhalin to southern Japan, and parts of Russia, Korea, and China. It is often colocated with Fagus crenata (Japanese beech) and Acer mono (Painted maple) in dense deciduous forests. The nuts can be eaten. The wood is highly valued for making whisky and is also used for furniture and construction. The outer bark has medicinal properties.
Quercus crispula grows best grown in rich, moist, well-drained loams, including sandy loams, in full sun. It tolerates drought, clay soil, and dry soil well. Soils should have a pH balance that is mildly acid, neutral or mildly alkaline. It does not grow well in full shade, but tolerates some shade. Encouraging rapid tree growth does not always enhance quality, but practicing long-rotation forestry does.
Quercus crispula is native to all of Japan's main islands and also on Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, Amur, Khabarovsk, Korea, Manchuria, and Primorsky Krai. It is often colocated with Fagus crenata (Japanese beech) and Acer mono (Painted maple). All three species function as canopy trees, with F. crenata being dominant. In parts of its range, other deciduous trees often found with Q. crispula include: Fagus japonica, Magnolia obovata, Fraxinus lanuginosa, Acer japonicum, Quercus serrata, and Carpinus laxiflora. Q. crispula prefers a colder climate than the closely related Quercus serrata and Quercus acutissima. It grows naturally from the mountains of Japan to the subalpine zone. Along with beech, it is one of the main tree species of deciduous broad-leaved forests in Japan, preferring slightly brighter places than beech.
Quercus crispula is most widely known outside Japan for its use in barrels to age Japanese and Scotch whisky. The wood is expensive, has many twists, has fewer tyloses than other oaks, has poor watertightness, and its high water content requires a two-year drying time; all making it difficult for coopers to work with. It can be hard to obtain and is expensive. Despite these issues, Q. crispula wood has received international acclaim as a material that can brew a delicate flavor and unique aroma completely different from other oak barrels. Whisky connoisseur David Broom describes the aroma and taste as most reminiscent of aloeswood and similar to sandalwood with hint of coconut, camphor mintiness, and cedar. The link between the aroma of mizunara and temples is often referred to as "temple smell". The reason is the wood has some of the same molecules as fungus-infected aloeswood, which is found in species of the genus Aquilaria. Aloeswood is also used in production of temple incense; hence the similarity. Q. crispula is also used in some distillery washbacks. The most prized Q.
Quercus acatenangensis · Mapleleaf oak · Quercus acherdophylla · Quercus acrodonta · Quercus aculcingensis · Red Wood Evergreen Oak · Quercus acutangula · Quercus acutifolia · Sawtooth oak · Quercus aerea · African Oak · Quercus affinis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Quercus crispula by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
