We have long had a fascination for evergreen oaks, and one we absolutely love is the Asian, Lithocarpus hancei var. ternaticupula. I have never seen this in another botanical collection, although a few certainly must exist. We tried two seedlings from different Taiwanese collections, and the lowland collection quickly succumbed to our cold winters. The remaining specimen from nearly 8,000′ elevation in Songchyuangang has thrived, as you can see from the image below, so we have christened it Lithocarpus hancei var. ternaticupula ‘Lancelot’. Lithocarpus hancei is named after British botanist, Henry Hance, who botanized in Southern China. Our 13 year old specimen has now reached 25′ tall. Hardiness in Zone 7b-9b.
