A moderate light-demander, and frost-hardy; not readily browsed by cattle. Its growth is slow, natural seedlings taking four years to reach 60 cm in height It coppices well. The seedlings have a strong taproot The trees shed their leaves in November, and put new ones out between March and May.
Found in Nepal between 2200 and 3000 m; extends as far west as Kashmir. In western Nepal it is commonly associated with Quercus floribunda, and in moist forest near streams with Aesculus and Juglans. It is less common in central Nepal and is absent in the east.
The seed lies on the ground during the winter and germinates next spring. It is particularly abundant on newly exposed, porous soil, and colonizes landslips. It fails to establish itself where there is heavy weed growth.
The two-winged fruits ripen in July to October; they are threshed, dried in the sun, and stored in sealed containers until needed for planting. There are about 12,000 seeds kg-1. Germination of fresh seed is good, but rather slow, taking up to six weeks.
Seed should be sown in the nursery in March, either directly into containers. or in beds for later pricking out into containers. They will need at least 15 months in the nursery, possibly one year more.
The wood weighs about 640 kg m-3 , and is white, close grained, soft to moderately hard. It is not durable. It is used for making bowls, and is suitable for turnery and similar purposes. The leaves are used for fodder in Jumla (Raeside, 1985), but as the tree is deciduous, are not available for most of the winter.
It has been raised in community forestry nurseries in Nepal, but only on a small scale. It is used as a plantation species in Himachal Pradesh, India.