Discrimination of hybrids between Quercus variabilis and Q. acutissima by using stellate hairs, and analysis of the hybridization zone in the Chubu District of central Japan

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Abstract

To discriminate between Quercus variabilis, Q. acutissima, and their hybrids, we sampled 152 individuals in secondary forests in Japan, including a plantation of Q. acutissima in Nagoya City. We compared and identified the species and their hybrids on the basis of the density of stellate hairs on the undersurfaces of leaves. The den-sity was high in Q. variabilis, zero in Q. acutissima, and low in their hybrids. We also studied the distribution patterns of the two species and found that Q. variabilis grows at lower altitudes in warmer regions than does Q. acutissima, and that a hybridization zone exists where the ranges of the two species overlap. We discuss differ-ences in the distributions of the species on the basis of life-history features such as seed germination and seed-ling establishment. The results suggest that the main range of distribution of Q. acutissima corresponds to Kira’s Warm Temperate Deciduous Forest Zone, and that the unusual distribution pattern of Q. acutissima in warmer regions such as Kyushu may have resulted from planting of the species.

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