わが国の本州、福島・新潟県以西から四国・九州それに済州島や中国中南部に分布しています。山地に生え、高さは20メートルほどになります。葉は狭長楕円形で表面には光沢があり、中上部には浅い鋸歯があります。5月ごろ、上部の葉腋から雄花序を下垂させ、雌花序は直立します。果実は卵形の堅果で、殻斗には6〜8個の輪層があります。中国語では「小葉青岡(xiao ye qing gang)」と呼ばれます。
The "Shira-kashi" (Quercus myrsinaefolia) belongs to Fagaceae (the Beech family).It is an evergreen tall tree that is distributed westward from Fukushima-Niigata prefecture of Honshu to Shikoku, Kyushu in Japan, as well as the Jeju-do (southern Korea) and centralsouthern China. This tree grows in mountains and can reach about 20 m in height. The leaves are narrow oblong and glossy with shallow toothed edges at the upper part of blades. The male clusters are drooping on the upper axiles and the female clusters are erect. The fruits are ovate nuts and the cupules have 6-8 circular layers. In Chinese, it is called "小葉青岡" (xiao ye qing gang).