How to Identify Oaks by the Acorns: 13 Steps (with Pictures) Characteristics of an Acorn 1 Examine the acorn cup scales. The nut of the acorn grows from a woody cup, which may remind you of a hat. The small scales that make up the cup may be thin and flat, or thick and forming wart-like growths (tubercles). This variation is a great start for narrowing down the possible species. [2] All oaks native to North America and Europe have a spiral of overlapping scales on the cup. Some (but not all) East Asian oaks have scales that form concentric rings instead. These are called ring-cupped oaks, and belong to the Cyclobalanopsis subgenus. [3] 2 Look at the shape of the acorn. Acorns come in many shapes, but you can divide them into two rough groups. [4] Some are round ("globose"), or nearly round with a blunt tip. Others are elongated ("ovoid" or "oblong") and usually taper to a point ("fusiform"). The acorns of some species have parallel ridges (striations) running between the two points.

This can vary within one species, so a smooth acorn isn't always diagnostic. 3 Check the color. Mature acorns can be light brown, dark brown, black, or chestnut red. If the acorn is still green or greenish-grey, it probably fell off the tree early. 4 Measure the nut. Acorns range in size from nubs less than ½ inch (1.25 cm) long, to behemoths the size of your palm. Most acorns within a single species and region are similar in length within about ½ inch (1.25 cm). One important exception is the cork oak of the Mediterranean, which drops large acorns in autumn and a smaller batch in winter. [5] The size and shape of the cup is also useful, and you can easily eyeball it by comparing it to the nut. For example, the Northern red oak has a cup that sits flat at the top of the nut, while the overcup oak and bur oak wrap almost the entire nut in a cup. [6] The length of the stalk the acorn grows on can also help identification. 5 Look for hairs. The cup of some acorns have hairs on the inner and/or outer surface.

You can also look for hairs on the inner surface of the shell, after cracking it open. Botanists describe this hairy material with these terms: [7] Woolly: long, matted hairs. Some species only have hair near the tip of the acorn, so check there. Pubescent: short, fine hairs. Identifying Common USA Oak Species 1 Find a local field guide if possible. There are about 400 species of oak worldwide, and over 200 in North America. [10] This guide only covers a few of the most common species in the United States. A tree identification guide for your region or state will help for the species that are less common or limited to smaller areas. 2 Choose your region. This guide is divided by the region where the oaks grow. Note that many species only grow in a smaller area within this region. Central and Eastern United States : East of Minnesota in the north and Texas in the South. Florida is included, but many species do not grow there. Western United States : This covers the entire Midwest and Pacific coast. Central and Eastern United States 1 Narrow down brown, oblong acorns. These acorns have the classic oblong or ovoid acorn shape.

Their nuts are light brown or dark brown in color, with few to no red tones.

Here are the most common species that fit this description in this region, and their identifying characteristics: [11] [12] [13] White oak (Quercus alba): short, light grey cup with warty scales; cup covers about ¼ of nut [14] Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii): thin cup with fine grey hairs and moderately warty scales; cup covers ¼ to ½ of nut [15] Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea): glossy, dark reddish-brown cup; nut has a blunt tip Willow oak (Quercus phellos): shallow, flattened cup with hairs inside and out; nut is less than ½" (13 mm) long Northern red oak (Quercus rubra): cup scales are reddish-brown, hairy, often with dark margins; inside of cup is smooth or has ring of hair around the scar; nut may have grey stripes [16] Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii): Similar to Northern red oak, but scales often have pale margins; some have a deeper, bowl-shaped cup, but not all [17] 2 Identify other acorns of the region

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These species produce acorns that are round or have a distinct color or shape: [18] [19] Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa): The largest acorns on the continent, about 1.5 inches (4 cm) long with a very deep cupule that covers at least half of the nut Water oak (Quercus nigra): shallow cup with fine hairs; round, blackish nut Southern red oak (Quercus falcata): thin, reddish-brown cup with fine hairs; nut sometimes have lines and hairs near tip.

Pin oak (Quercus palustris): thin, smooth, reddish-brown cup; light brown nut is often striped, and can be either round or ovoid Post oak (Quercus stellata): thin cup with grey, hairy scales; light brown nut ¾" (19 mm) long or less, sometimes with faint dark brown stripes; nut can be round or ovoid [20] Black oak (Quercus velutina): reddish-brown, hairy cup with a knob on top and a fringed edge; hair inside cup as well; light reddish-brown, ovoid nut with faint stripes Western United States 1 Learn about California oaks. California is dominated by oaks of many species, and naturally occurring hybrids. [21] Here are some of the most common in various parts of California: [22] California black oak (Quercus kelloggii): found throughout the state. Nut usually at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) long, cup varies but scales at margin are usually loose and may be warty [23] [24] Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia): found along the coast.

Variation makes identification by acorn tough, but cup scales have loose tips and are never warty. [25] [26] [27] Blue oak (Quercus douglasii): found mostly in north and central California. Cup is extremely shallow with thin scales. [28] [29] Engelmann oak (Quercus engelmannii): found in the extreme south. Light brown, oblong nut. Cup has grey hairy scales, warty at the fringe [30] 2 Know the oaks of the Great Plains. Scattered oaks are found throughout this region, but of course they are only plentiful in forested sub-regions: [31] Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa): Found in the northeast Great Plains. 1.5 inch (4 cm) acorns with a cup that covers more than half the acorn. Post oak (Quercus stellata): Found in the Cross Timbers region. No more than ¾" (19 mm) long, light brown; grey, thin, hairy cup [32] Blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica): Also in the Cross Timbers.

Narrow nuts about ½" (13 mm) wide, half covered by the cup. [33] 3 Identify oaks in the Pacific Northwest. Much of the oak habitat in this region has disappeared. These three are the remaining species: [34] Oregon white oak / Garry oak (Quercus garryana): The only oak in Washington state, and the most common one in Oregon. [35] Nut is large (1 inch / 2.5cm+) and cup is shallow with yellowish or reddish brown scales. [36] California black oak (Quercus kelloggii): found in southern Oregon. See California oaks above. Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis): found in southern Oregon. Its acorns are extremely variable, so treat it as a "catch all" for this region. [37] (Also present in CA and NM, where it is easily confused with the numerous other species.) Community Q&A Can humans eat acorns? wikiHow Contributor The tannins in acorns make them bitter and toxic. Some species are much milder than others, but almost all of them require "leaching" before they're edible.

The easiest method is to boil the shelled acorns in water, replacing the water several times until the acorns taste right. Can you burn acorns or oak wood for barbecue? wikiHow Contributor Oak wood is a common choice for grilling. Acorns, on the other hand, contain poisonous substances. Be on the safe side and avoid burning them around food unless a botanist gives you the go ahead. Do all oak trees have acorns? wikiHow Contributor What do oak trees look like? wikiHow Contributor Oak trees can be enormous canopies or tiny shrubs, and come in many different shapes. Almost all of them have lobed leaves, with several rounded or spiky "fingers" on each leaf. Acorns: The Inside Story | Eat The Weeds and other things, too Acorns: The Inside Story by Green Deane World’s Largest Acorn Acorn: More than a survival food The first time you eat an acorn it makes you wonder what the squirrels are going nuts about. As the bitterness twists your mouth into a pucker it reminds you that animals can eat a lot of things we can’t… unless we modify them. A lot has been said about acorns in foraging publications.

I’ll try to say a few things that haven’t been said. Let’s start with that fact that the world’s biggest acorn is in Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh calls itself “The City of Oaks.” The “Big Acorn” is ten feet tall and weights 1,250 pounds. I’d hate to meet the squirrel that can carry it away. But, it does remind me of a general rule of thumb about acorns: The bigger the cap on the acorn, the more bitter it will be. The English word “oak” is some 1,260 years old. In German it was “eih” ending up “eiche” The Dutch extended it to “eychen” or ” eychenboom.” (I went to school with a “Cossaboom” meaning cherry tree.) Oaks are also mentioned in ancient texts. Greeks of old said “dryas.” Modern Greek say “dris.” It was the preferred tree of Zeus. Those faithful to Zeus gathered around oak trees. The Celts preferred to knock on oak wood.

One variation of their word for oak was “dair, the fourth letter of the Celtic alphabet and part of the name of the city Kildare (means “Church in the Oaks.”) Often associated with strength, the US military awards gold “oak leaf clusters” for exceptional bravery. Oaks have been a significant part of every culture around them. The larger the cap the more tannic acid The word “acorn” is a combination of “ak” for oak and “corn” meaning seed thus acorn means oak seed. The Greeks say velanidi, the Spanish bellota, the French gland, Italians glanda, Portuguese, glande, and in the forgotten fifth romantic language, ghinda in Romanian. Those Romans got around. All the Romantics come from the Latin word for gland, which also lent itself to the medical term for a certain acorn-like part of the male anatomy. The acorn is also one of the few nuts or fruits that is not directly named in Modern English after the tree it comes from which is why one does not hear of oak nuts… walnuts, beechnuts, hickory nuts, oak nuts… gland… it could all get rather naughty.

The smaller the cap, the less tannic acid At least 450 species of oak populate world wide. Some 30 species in the United States have been used for food and oil. The Live Oak is the most prized, not only for food but particularly ship building. Its very long, graceful limbs were ready-made for boat keels and ribs. In fact, the U.S. Navy once had its own live oak forest just for boat building. Sold off long ago, the Navy began stockpiling Live Oak in 1992 for restoration of the USS Constitution. It got 50 live oaks from Florida in 2002 of 160 that were cleared for a golf course near Tallahassee. Just as 200 years ago, the trees were selected for their natural curves for the ship. In the white oak family, the Live Oak’s acorns are among the mildest one can collect. Botanically the Live Oak is Quercus virginiana. Quercus (KWERK-kus ) was the Roman name for the tree and virginiana (ver-jin-ee-AY-nuh) means North America and usually where the species was first noticed, such as Virginia.

Storing acorns the Acorn Woodpecker way The seed crop from an oak, the acorns, is called a “mast” which means “food” and putting on a crop of acorns is masting. It is tempting to say it is probably related to the word to “masticate” meaning to chew but it isn’t. Mast came from the Middle English word “mete” meaning meat, which at that time meant any food, and we still use it abstractly in that way, as in “Education became his meat and experience his drink.” Mete came from the Italian word madere which came from the Greek word, madaros, meaning to be wet. That takes a bit of explaining: Ancient Greeks divided food into two large categories. “Wet” food was food fit for humans and pigs. Dry food was fit for cattle and fowl. Now you know. Acorns are quite nutritious. For example, the nutritional breakdown of acorns from the Q.

alba, — the white oak — is 50.4% carbohydrates, 34.7% water, 4.7% fat, 4.4.% protein, 4.2% fiber, 1.6% ash. A pound of shelled acorns provide 1,265 calories, a 100 grams (3.5 ounces) has 500 calories and 30 grams of oil. During World War II Japanese school children collected over one million tons of acorns to help feed the nation as rice and flour supplies dwindled. Live Oak leaves have no teeth Oaks fall into two large categories, those that fruit in one season, white oaks, and those that fruit after two seasons, the black oaks and the red oaks. The latter category can be more bitter than the former. The first category have leaves with round lobes and no prickles at the end of the leaves. The black and red oaks have prickles at the end of their leaves.

They also have scales on the cups of the acorns, hair inside the caps, and a sheath around the nut (which always throws a color even when the tannin is leached out.) Sometimes those in the first category don’t need any leaching, or very little. The rest always do. But first, separate the acorns. Floaters are bad or have a usable grub in them To separate acorns dump them into water and remove the ones that float. Take the ones that sink and dry them in a frying pan on the stove or in the oven at 150F or less for 15 minutes, preheated. Or put them in the sun for a few days. You don’t want to cook them yet, just dry them off and shrink the nut inside making them a little easier to shell. The yield, not counting bad acorns, is 2:1. two gallons of usable acorns in the shell will yield a gallon of nut meat. We must leach out the tannic acid it can damage our kidneys, Most unleached acorns are too bitter to eat without leaching.

Soaking in cold water, minimal energy and the starch is not cooked There are three general ways to leach acorns. The least common way is to bury them whole in a river bank for a year, which turns them black and sweet, good for roasting. The other method is to grind them into a course meal and soak several days or weeks (depending on the species) in many changes of cold water until the water runs clear. These will be slightly bland but good for making acorn flour. (Sometimes the leached acorns will be dark but sweet afterwards.) The third way — boiling — is least preferred because if done wrong it will bind the tannins to the acorn and they will not lose their bitterness. Also, when you boil the acorns you also boil off the oil with the tannins, reducing their nutrition. That oil, however, is very nutritious. At this writing it is selling for $182 a gallon. You can make it for far less. There is actually a fourth method that requires lye but it is not commonly used nor have I tried it. Boiling speeds up the process but cooks the starch The boiling process requires two pots of boiling water.

Put the acorns in one pot of already boiling water until the water darkens. Pour off the water and put the hot acorns in the other pot of boiling water while you reheat the first pot with fresh water to boiling. You keep putting the acorns in new boiling water until the water runs clear. Putting boiled acorns into cold water will bind the tannins to the acorn and they will stay bitter. So always move them from one boiling bath to another. Putting acorns in cold water and bringing the water to a boil will also bind the tannin. So it is either use all cold water and a long soaking or all boiling water and just a few hours of cooking. There is one other difference between the two methods. Mrs. Freddie, a Hupa, pours water over ground acorns in a sand basin The temperature at which you process the acorns at any point is critical. Boiling water or roasting over 165º F precooks the starch in the acorn. Cold processing and low temperatures under 150 F does not cook the starch.

Cold-water leached acorn meal thickens when cooked, hot-water leached acorn meal does not thicken or act as a binder (like eggs or gluten) when cooked. Your final use of the acorns should factor in how you will process them. If you are going to leach and roast whole for snacking then boiling is fine. If you are going to use the acorn for flour it should be cold processed, or you will have to add a binder. The finer acorns are ground the quicker they leach Personally, I grind mine in a lot of water to a fine meal, let it set, then strain. I add more water to the meal, let set and strain. I do that until the water is clear or the meal not bitter. That takes a few days to a week. Then I dry it in the sun, unless there are squirrels about, then in a slow oven (under 150º F.) I end up with a meal or flour, depending on the grind, that will not crumble when cooked. There are nearly as many variations to leach acorns as there are opinions about acorns.

Another way is to put the shelled acorns in water in a blender or food processor and blend them into a milk-like slurry. Put that slurry in a fine mesh bag and then massage that under running water like a faucet. It works very quickly but of course some meal and oil is lost in the process. But it turns hours of leaching into minutes. Of course, leaching them in an unpolluted stream is the easiest way but you can also arrange for a container to leak slowly. Simply put a cloth on the bottom to hold the meal in and fill the container when it is empty, or run the faucet slowly to maintain the leaching. Another ways is to clean out the tank on your toilet and put the shelled acorns in a mesh bag in there. Every flush will remove tannic water and bring in fresh. Acorn bread in a classic cast iron pan Many Native Americans preferred bitter acorns to sweet ones because they stored better. If after leaching there is just a hint of bitterness that can sometimes be removed by soaking the acorns in milk for a while. The protein in the milk will bind with the tannin in the acorns and can be poured off, if there is just a little.

To get oil from the cold-leached acorns, boil them. The oil will rise to the top of the water. Also, charred acorns can be used as a substitute for coffee but really nothing is a substitute for coffee. Acorn grubs are edible raw or cooked Whole leached acorns can be roasted for an hour at 350º F, coarsely ground leached acorns slightly less time. They can then be eaten or ground into non-binding flour. To make a flour out of your whole or coarsely ground acorns, toss them in a blender or food processor. Strain the results through a strainer to take out the larger pieces then reduce them as well. Acorn flour has no gluten so it is usually mixed 50/50 with wheat flour. Since acorn flour is high in oil it needs to be stored carefully and not allowed to go rancid. Remember cold processed acorn flour has more binding capacity than heat processed acorn flour. Live Oak acorns top the food list for birds such as wood ducks, wild turkeys, quail and jays.

Squirrels, raccoons and whitetail deer also like them, sometimes to the point of being 25% of their fall diet. Interestingly, the tannin tends to be in the bottom half of the acorn which is why you will often see a squirrel eat only the upper half of the acorn. Squirrels are also not fools. They will eat all of a white acorn when they find one because it is the least bitter. They will bury the very bitter red and black acorns so over time some of the bitterness is leached into the soil. Raiding a squirrel’s hoard will get bitter acorns. By the way, acorns shells and unleached nut meat have gallotannins which are toxic to cattle, sheep, goats, horses and dogs. If you use the boiling method don’t throw away the tannic water. The water has a variety of uses. With a mordant it can be used to dye clothing. The tannic acid also makes a good laundry detergent. Two cups to each load but it will color whites temporarily a slightly tan color. Tannic water is antiviral and antiseptic.

It can be used as a wash for skin rashes, skin irritations, burns, cuts, abrasions and poison ivy. While you can pour the tannic water over poison ivy, if you have the luxury freeze the brown water in ice cube trays and use the cubes on the ivy eruption. If you have a sore throat you can even gargle with tannic water or use it as a mild tea for diarrhea and dysentery. Externally dark tannic water can be used on hemorrhoids. Hides soaked in tannic water make better leather clothing. Using the brown water turned hides tan-colored and that is why it is called tanning and from there we get the words tannins and tannic. In traditional tanning methods, whole hides are soaked in a vat of tannin water for a full year before being processed. Oak trees begin to produce acorns at about 20 years old but usually the first full crop won’t happen until the tree is about 50. The average 100-year old oak produces about 2,200 acorns per season. Only one in 10,000 will become a tree.

Besides dyes paints have also been made from the oaks. It also a dense wood for working and weights 75 pounds per dry cubic foot. The hull of the US warship, USS Constitution, was made entirely of oak, white oak covering over a live oak core. At the waterline she was 25 inches thick. Eighteen-pound cannonballs bounced off the oak, notable in the 1812 battle with the HMS Guerriere. That battle and the subsequent loss of British ships caused the British to issue the order that no ship was to attack the Constitution singlehandedly. The Constitution, as of this writing, is still on duty and berthed in Boston. Peter Becker’s “Newtella” Sprouted acorns are also edible as long as they haven’t turned green. I’ve heard from German forager Peter Becker has a slightly different view of what to do with acorns. “What I do to prep acorns for consumption is let them germinate, so the starches turn into malt sugar. I’ve only just developed a new product with acorns to introduce this precious nut to public because acorns are generally considered inedible here in Germany.

NewTella is a sweet bread spread just like Nutella, the famous hazelnut creme, except that all ingredients are locally available, it has less sugar and the only fats are from the acorn. The basic preparation is to roast leached, peeled and germinated acorns, boil 1 part acorns with 3 parts of apple juice, when soft process them smoothly, add 20 % sugar with pectin. This bread spread is also a great way to preserve acorns and can be used for cookies. It’s a great way to promote this gigantic untapped resource and jazz up general nutrition.” A few exchanges about Peter’s process is below in the comments. He shells them, leaches them (cold water) and sprouts them before using them to make his NewTella. That helps convert the starch to malt, which is sweet. To visit Peter’s site click here. Lastly you may have a use for those acorns that float. Most of them have a weevil grub in them, the Acorn Curculio. Look for a little 1/8 inch hole. In time that grub will crawl out and burrow into the ground for a couple of years turning into a full-fledged insect.

You can use that grub in the acorn as bait for fish. Or, you can let it crawl in to a bucket of dirt or sawdust or a container of oatmeal where it will make a cocoon which you can then open later and use for bait. Store live in the frig. Also, squirrels like the grubs so it is not beyond reason to use them for bait for squirrels. And to answer your question, the grubs are edible by humans raw or cooked. You make also find a little worm with legs in an acorn. My entomologist friends tell them they are edible, too. 2 cups cattail or white flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup maple syrup or sugar 1 egg 3 tablespoons olive Bake in pan for 30 minutes or until done at 400 degrees. A far more simple form of acorn bread is to make a thick acorn porridge out of cold processed acorn flour. Take a large tablespoon of the porridge and drop it into cold water. This causes the porridge to contract. Take the lump out of the water and dry.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile Autum Acorns IDENTIFICATION: Acorns, small nut with cap. Rough and larger caps belong to the more bitter acorns. TIME OF YEAR: Usually late summer, fall, tree do not produce every year. ENVIRONMENT: Oaks inhabit all kinds of environments. METHOD OF PREPARATION: Numerous once leached of tannins.: out of hand, flour, candy. HERB BLURB The tannins have been used as an astringent as well as antiviral, antiseptic and antitumor but could also be carcinogenic. The mold that develops on acorns has antibiotic properties. If you would like to donate to Eat The Weeds please click here . Reply Jan Haldeman October 25, 2016 at 16:41 Posted this along with images from my yard on my homepage just now! My Medicinal Botany students will be assigned your “Acorns, the Inside Story, and hope others will enjoy it too! Acorn times! Our White Oak has a bumper crop, mostly already on the ground. Few if any have weevils this year. They’re big, plump and a beautiful shade of brown.

The tree, about 50 years ago, was brought from local woods to our yard by former owners. Medicinal Botanists will be gathering up a “mast” of these tomorrow, and begin the process of making a healthy acorn flour for bread or muffins. We’ll have to look out for deer poop because these acorns are their favorites. Great article about acorns if you google “Acorns, the Inside Story” at Eat the Weeds! Reply Jan Haldeman October 25, 2016 at 16:03 Posted this along with images on my homepage just now! My Medicinal Botany students will be assigned your “Acorns, the Inside Story, and hope others will enjoy it too! Acorn times! Our White Oak has a bumper crop, mostly already on the ground. Few if any have weevils this year. They’re big, plump and a beautiful shade of brown. The tree, about 50 years ago, was brought from local woods to our yard by former owners. Medicinal Botanists will be gathering up a “mast” of these tomorrow, and begin the process of making a healthy acorn flour for bread or muffins.

Great article about acorns if you google “Acorns, the Inside Story” at Eat the Weeds! Reply John October 21, 2016 at 23:07 You say the Middle English word “mete” came from the Italian “madere,” but that’s not quite right. “Mete” is directly descended from Old English “mete” and, before that, from an ancient Germanic word. The Swedish word “mat” (“food”) is derived the same way. The Italian word was derived not from Greek but from a similar word in Latin and is only distantly related to “mete.” The Welsh word “mes,” which, coincidentally, means “acorn,” is also distantly related. glenn October 21, 2016 at 14:27 Great article! I have six – 1/2 gallon jars of shelled red oak acorns leaching w/ cold water that I change daily. They are currently on day 5 through day 10 depending on when I filled the jar. My question is that today I noticed that each jar is giving off gas bubbles as if they are fermenting. Is that a natural part of the process?

… or is it possible something went wrong and they are spoiling as in botulism? Reply carole October 12, 2016 at 11:57 This is a great article you’ve posted, so informative and helpful to my bank of knowledge ….and to think I’ve been gathering acorns a lot lately , thinking of using in an art project idea. Instead I will now think on flour! Reply Kimberly August 24, 2016 at 08:24 Thank you for this information. I am looking for more sources for the riverbank method. My husband read about this a couple years ago and we have been wanting to try it. We are looking for the most traditional version… the one the Native American tribes in our area might have used. He had read that the acorns would be buried in a riverbank for one whole year to leach. Are there different versions of this method? When leaching for a whole year, are the acorns buried whole? Shelled? Shelled then mashed? Can you point to any books or more primary sources on this method? We are in the Midwest. Thank you!

Reply Robert Melvin August 22, 2016 at 13:30 Awesome, thank you for sharing. I have a burr oak that I planted 20 years ago and this year is a bumper crop of acorns, thank you for all of your advice. I like your web site, it’s very informative. Reply Evan August 12, 2016 at 11:05 Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom. I have been eating acorns and other natural foods. I feel happier and healthier, I am am saving on my food budget too. Peace Reply Parker November 29, 2015 at 17:05 I was wondering about Coastal Live Oaks. They have smallish dark green leaves with spines along their edges–sort of like holly leaves. Can their acorns be eaten.? I actually tasted a bit of one raw (unprocessed) which was not very bitter at all. What do you think? Reply Jim November 28, 2015 at 17:36 I am wondering about the riverbank method. Is this what Indians did? Is the magic lots of moisture and no oxygen?

And if this could be recreated in a 5 gallon pale packed with moist sand etc? Any thoughts? Thanks Reply Laura G November 21, 2015 at 08:58 Thank you so much for sharing such useful information. We have so many acorns all over falling from the huge tree in our yard. I’m so excited! God bless you! Reply Rick November 1, 2015 at 18:09 You had mentioned that acorns with rounded leaf tips had less tannins. This being said, I have not seen the chestnut oak mentioned as a preferred oak. The acorns are large and plentiful in my back yard. Reply Josh September 30, 2016 at 13:59 I just harvested, shelled, and ground for flour a decent trial mast (should be about 7ish cups dry) of Chestnut Oak acorns that are from my front yard. This was from 1/3 full plastic shopping bag. I should be able to let you know how it turns out after leeching in about a week, maybe less, when I cook up some acorn bread and ashcakes.

I know the Chestnut oak is considered part of the white oak family, and that white oaks have the “sweetest” acorns. Figured it was worth a shot to find out some use for the mess (mast) in my front yard. In a Nutshell: Oak Tree and Acorn Facts - Organic Gardening - MOTHER EARTH NEWS Video In a Nutshell: Oak Tree and Acorn Facts Learn about oak tree and acorn facts, including the lifecycle of acorns, how acorns feed wildlife, nutrients in acorns and a list of oak tree varieties. By Terry Krautwurst Discover oak tree and acorn facts you might not have known. MARK MOFFETT/MINDEN PICTURES Learn about oak tree and acorn facts and how this tree nut provides food for a wide variety of wildlife. Magnificent oak trees and their acorns sustain countless wild creatures. BLAM! BONK-BLAM! BLAM! For days on end at our house, this is early autumn's tune — a slow, staccato solo for pickup-truck percussion in A (for annoying) minor.

No matter where I move my truck in our tree-covered driveway it sits beneath an oak, and acorns come raining down on it like oversized hailstones on a tin roof. As startling as each resounding impact is to me, it must be a truly jarring experience for the little weevil larva curled inside the meat-filled shell. By summer's end many acorns carry the larvae, one to a nut, deposited as eggs in tiny pinholes drilled by feeding adult weevils. The jolt of an acorn's fall to the ground signals to the larva that the time has come to bore its way out of the shell. Once hatched, the larva burrows as much as a foot deep into the soil, where it remains for up to five years before pupating and emerging as a full-grown acorn-sucking beetle. The slam against unforgiving truck metal has to be a whole different kind of wake-up call. Equally as eye-opening to biologists and ecologists, though, is the reverberating environmental impact of acorns — the countless billions that land with a gentle thud, and a collective bang, on soil and leaf litter from coast to coast.

Scientists are only beginning to unravel the extraordinarily complex interplay between plants, wildlife and acorns in woodland ecosystems. Oak Tree and Acorn Facts Like other nuts, an acorn is a seed, an embryonic tree-to-be wrapped in a hard shell. But only the lower end of an acorn's innards is occupied by a rudimentary root and stem; the rest is nutritive tissue loaded with protein, carbohydrates and fat. Its purpose is to sustain a sprouting seedling until the infant grows green leaves and can stock its own larder via photosynthesis. But far more often than not, a forest creature gobbles the nut and its stored nutrients first. Upwards of 100 species of birds and animals include acorns in their diets. For many — including gray squirrels, blue jays, black bears, chipmunks, ruffed grouse and deer mice — nuts are the main food source, a critical element of day-to-day survival. For many more, acorns are a lifeline to spring and beyond. Without the benefit of the nuts' energy, those birds and animals will starve or fail to reproduce successfully. Fortunately, the United States is blessed with roughly 58 species of native oaks.

I say roughly because many oaks readily hybridize, producing pesky crosses that feed the fires of the ongoing debate among biologists over what, precisely, makes a species a species. Scientists will likely never agree on the exact number of different oaks. Regardless, they all produce acorns. The nuts range from peasize (willow and pin oaks) to whopping jawbreaker-size (bur and white oak). In a good year, one tree can produce thousands of acorns, and an acre of oak woodland can yield a quarter-ton or more of nuts. And there, in a nutshell, is an important environmental catch: not all years are good years. Acorns: Nut Boom and Bust Mast refers to fruits and seeds of trees and shrubs. Wildlife biologists distinguish two types of mast: hard and soft. Soft mast includes pine seeds and fruits from vines, shrubs and small trees — persimmon, dogwood, grape, blackberry, and the like. Soft mast is used by wildlife primarily during the summer and fall. Hard mast consists of nuts. This includes beech, hickory, walnut and others, but acorns are by far the bulk of the hard-mast crop.

Some scientists say oaks produce more nuts annually than all other kinds of nut trees combined — both wild and commercial. The hard-mast crop is hardly consistent, though, from year to year. Instead, it follows a boom-and-bust cycle. Bumper crops seldom occur back to back, and are typically succeeded by several years of average to poor production. Then, boom — another bumper. The immediate effects of this fluctuating food supply are predictable. Following good mast years, animals are well-nourished, reproduction rates soar and wildlife populations increase. Poor years produce the opposite effect. Malnourished animals starve or die from disease, and breeding falls off. Nut-Bearing Trees Scientists have barely begun to unravel the many ecological repercussions of the oak forest's wax-and-wane mast cycle. For that matter, they're not entirely sure why the nut crop varies as it does. Certainly weather and other environmental influences are a factor — a drought can sap trees of reproductive energy; a late spring frost can kill flowers. But weather doesn't appear to be the main influence. Bumper-crop years aren't always especially weather-blessed. Poor mast years occur even when conditions are ideal for acorn growth.

Many scientists now believe the mast cycle is an evolutionary adaptation; that over the eons oaks and other nut-bearing trees have developed an on-and-off mast cycle to ensure their reproductive survival. The theory makes sense. If oaks produced a consistently healthy crop of acorns every year, populations of nut-loving animals would rise to the point where all the acorns would be eaten no matter how numerous. None would remain to grow into mighty oaks. The mast cycle solves the problem. During moderate to poor years, wildlife get by as best they can, seldom increasing and often decreasing in numbers. Then comes a good year, when the trees pour it on and produce far more nuts than the animals can consume, no matter how fast they reproduce. Nuts are left to germinate and renew the forest. Over the leaner years following, wildlife again dwindles to numbers too few to eat all of the next bumper crop. And so the cycle continues: The trees in effect keep nut predators at bay, like mother hens protecting their eggs. Sustaining Oak Trees: Where You Come In The roles oaks and their acorns play in nature are numerous and, to a large extent, not yet fully understood.

Certainly, the dynamics of wildlife populations are impacted in countless ways. There's no question the annual acorn harvest is critical to countless creatures. So it makes sense to carefully manage oaks on your property. If you're blessed with forested land or a woodlot, you can help maximize acorn yields. Thinning the forest every few years, creating openings in the canopy, is essential. Crowded stands of tall trees block the sun and squelch mast production. Nut trees with crowns fully exposed to light are healthier and produce better than those with shaded foliage. Thin medium-height trees, too, so light can strike the ground and encourage growth of lower foliage important to ground-dwelling creatures for cover and nesting. When thinning, remember that large-diameter specimens produce more nuts than those of small diameter. Leave the big ones, in other words, and those that promise to be. Also, retain a combination of both white-oak and red-oak species — the two groups into which all oaks are divided. They're easy to tell apart: Most white oaks have leaves with rounded lobes, or "fingers." Red-oak leaves have pointed lobes.

More importantly, red-oak acorns — which take two years to mature and are exceptionally high in fat — don't sprout until the following spring, even when buried. As a result, they're storable. Birds and animals rely primarily on red-oak acorns for their winter stash. White-oak acorns, on the other hand, mature in a single year, are sweeter than the reds, and sprout soon after falling, thus losing their nutty nature — and their nutrients. Wildlife generally eat them as soon as they find them in the fall. The white-oak acorns are critical for building energy reserves before cold weather strikes. Remember to keep a mix of other types of hard-mast-producing trees — beech, walnut, hickory — if you have them. Likewise, maintain lower-growing vegetation that produces soft mast — dogwood, cherry, wild grape or berries. Of course, the same principles apply, though on a smaller scale, to back yards and suburban lots. Keep any oaks and other nut trees thinned and healthy, and use a range of shrub species and other landscape plants that bear food. Think mixed nuts; think mixed everything, and wildlife will be the better for it.

In nature, after all, variety is not only the spice of life, but also the force that drives it. If you're looking for a mail-order source of inexpensive oak tree seedlings, check out OIKOS Tree Crops. Established in 1985, OIKOS offers more than 75 species and hybrid oaks, including selections that produce heavy crops of acorns suitable for wildlife or for making flour, as well as other interesting plants. Contact OIKOS at . What Type of Tree Makes an Acorn? | Home Guides | SF Gate What Type of Tree Makes an Acorn? What Type of Tree Makes an Acorn? Only trees in the Quercus genus produce acorns. Watch a squirrel or chipmunk forage for food and no doubt a cache of acorns will appear. Acorns provide food for various wildlife, or they would otherwise litter the forest floor and rot since they are too heavy to disperse via wind. Instead, foraging animals scatter the seed and help to propagate the next generation of acorn-bearing trees. Only one type of tree produces an acorn, but this includes more than 500 individual species.

Overview An acorn is technically a fruit because it houses a seed, but due to its hard outer shell it’s classified as a nut. This nut is specific to trees in the Quercus genus, collectively referred to as oaks. Worldwide, there are hundreds of species with about 60 found in North America. Of these, there is wide variety in terms of size; some are of shade-bearing height, while others are mere shrubs. One thing all trees in the genus have in common, however, is the ability to produce acorns. Live Oak The name “live oak” is a blanket term used to describe an evergreen member of the Quercus genus and applies to several different species. Island live oak (Quercus tomentella), for example, also known as Channel Islands oak, is a medium-size evergreen native to Mexico and California. Cultivated in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7b to 10b, this drought-resistant tree is ranked as “fairly endangered” by the California Native Plants Society.

In contrast, interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni), which is hardy to USDA zones 8 through 10 as well as cooler climates, can reach up to 75 feet in height. This species produces catkins as flowers, with acorns two years later. White Oak White oaks include Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), also known as Brewer oak and post oak. This species, which varies in size from a shrub to a small tree, has a long range where it occurs naturally along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to southern California. The California white oak (Quercus lobata), also known as valley oak, is a fast-growing species hardy to USDA zones 8 through 10, and produces an acorn about twice as long as it is wide. Other Oaks There are a number of additional oaks that occur naturally in the valleys and slopes of the same USDA zones as the Oregon white oak.

These include California black oak (Quercus kelloggii), MacDonald oak (Quercus × macdonaldii), Engelmann oak (Quercus engelmannii), Tucker oak (Quercus john-tuckeri) and blue oak (Quercus douglasii). The last is a type of white oak that received its name because its leaves appear bluish. What are the different types of acorns? | Reference.com What are the different types of acorns? A: Quick Answer Acorns are divided into two main types for consumption: sweet and bitter. Acorns are the nut of the oak tree, and each type of oak has its own unique acorn. Full Answer There are over 400 species of oak trees native to the northern hemisphere, including over two dozen species in the United States. The acorns of the white oak are sweeter than the bitter black and red oak acorns. White oaks can be identified by the rounded lobes of their leaves, while black and red oaks have an identifiable point at the end of their leaves. Acorns range in size from three-quarters of an inch to as large as four inches in diameter. Acorns mature in one to two years, dependent on the species.

Nutritionally, acorns are comprised of about 50 percent carbohydrates, 35 percent water, and 5 percent each of fat, protein and fiber. These numbers are approximate because nutrient breakdowns vary by species as well. Acorns contain a large amount of tannic acid that is damaging to the kidneys. Prior to consuming, acorns are leached to remove the tannins. This can be done by burying the acorns near a river bank, soaking the acorns in a rotating water bath for weeks or boiling. After leaching acorns are processed into flours and oils or roasted whole. How to Grow an Oak Tree from an Acorn: 14 Steps (with Pictures) Choosing and Planting Acorns 1 Collect acorns in early autumn. Acorns are best harvested in the early-to-mid autumn before they have fallen from the tree. [1] Choose acorns that are free of worms, holes, and fungus . Suitable acorns should be brownish with slight tinges of green remaining, [2] though the appearance of acorns can vary based on the type of oak tree they come from.

A good general rule is that acorns are ready for picking when they can be removed from the cap without tearing them. [3] Note that the cap is not part of the acorn, but a (separate) protective covering. By removing the acorn from the cap you are not damaging it unless you tear the acorn itself. If possible, look for suitable trees in the summer. You'll want mature trees whose acorns are easily-reached via ladder or with a long pole. Some oak varieties, like red oaks, have acorns that take two years to mature, rather than one. As you pick suitable trees in the summer, keep this in mind - the acorns on some oaks will be ready in the fall, while others won't be ready until the following year. 2 Perform a "float test." Put the acorns that you've harvested in a bucket of water. Allow the acorns to settle a minute or two. Discard any acorns that float - these acorns are bad. If, at any point, you notice that an acorn is soft to the touch, discard it as well. Soft, mushy acorns are rotten. 3 Hibernate the remaining acorns.

Take the "good" acorns out of the water and dry them off. Place them in a large zipper bag with damp sawdust, vermiculite, peat mix, or another growth medium that can hold moisture. You should be able to fit up to 250 acorns in especially large bags. Put the bag in the refrigerator for a month and a half or longer - as long as is needed to germinate the new oak. This process is known as stratification, which is simply exposing a seed to cold temperatures, mimicking the natural conditions that a seed would experience had it fallen to the ground. This primes the seed for sprouting in the spring. Periodically check on your acorns. The medium should be just barely moist. Too moist, and the acorns may rot. Too dry, and they may not grow. 4 Keep an eye on the growth of your acorns. Even when stored in the refrigerator, most acorns will begin to germinate in the presence of moisture. The root end may begin to crack through the shell around early December (late fall, early winter). Whether or not the root has cracked through, the acorn is ready to be planted after about 40-45 days of storage.

Handle your seedlings with care - the emerging roots are easily damaged. 5 Plant each acorn in a pot or container. Obtain fairly small 2 inch (5 cm) diameter gardening pots (or, if you prefer, large styrofoam cups or milk cartons), for your plants. Fill these with a good quality potting soil (some sources also recommend adding milled sphagnum moss [4] ). For watering purposes, leave about an inch (2.5 centimeters) of space at the top. Plant your acorn just below the surface with the root facing down. If using a styrofoam cup or milk carton, poke holes in the sides of the cup near the bottom so that water can escape. If you prefer, you can also try just burying the acorn in the yard. Bury the root and gently tuck the acorn to one side on top of suitable rich, soft soil . This will only work if the taproot is already well established, long, and has detached adequately from the acorn. Be warned - this leaves the seedling vulnerable to mice, squirrels, etc. 6 Water your seedling. Water your plant until water comes out of the holes at the bottom of its container.

In the coming weeks, water frequently, never allowing the soil to dry out. In this stage of their life, keep your seedlings indoors. Place them on a southern windowsill, where they can absorb the winter sun. You may not notice rapid above-ground growth right away. This is because, during the first stage of its life, the plant is developing its taproot below the surface of the dirt. If you live in the southern hemisphere, place your seedlings on a northern windowsill instead. Part 2 Transplant Your Seedling 1 Track the plant's growth. Gardening sources differ about the next steps to take - some recommend planting seedlings directly into the ground after a few weeks of growth in a pot or cup [5] , while others recommend gradually increasing the amount of each day that the plant is exposed to the outdoor weather before finally planting it in the ground. [6] Still others recommend transplanting the seedling to a larger pot, allowing it to grow further, and then finally planting it in the ground. Though there is no single right way to decide when to transplant a seedling into the ground, there are qualities to look for which can inform your decision to transplant your seedling.

Good candidates for transplanting: Are about four to six inches tall (10 - 15 cm), with small leaves. Have white, healthy-looking roots. Caring for Growing Oaks 1 Protect young oak trees. Oak trees - especially young, fragile ones - are a source of food for many herbivorous animals. Acorns are a frequent snack for squirrels and mice, who can easily dig them up. Small seedlings are also vulnerable to rabbits, deer, and other animals that like to eat leaves. To ensure your young oak trees aren't devoured, take steps to protect them. Cage your young trees with chicken wire or sturdy plastic fencing around their stem to prevent animals from reaching them. If you live in an area where deer are common, you may even want to consider caging the top of the tree. You may also want to use pesticides to protect your tree from a variety of pests, including aphids and June bugs. Use caution when selecting pesticides - only use ones that are not harmful to your oak tree or your family. 2 Irrigate trees in dry weather. An oak's long taproot allows it to draw moisture from deep soils even when surface soils have been completely dried out.

During the winter and wet months, it's not usually necessary to water your oak trees. However, when oaks are young, hot and dry weather can be damaging. A drip irrigation system is a useful way to get water to young oak trees when they need it most. Irrigate your tree with about 10 gallons (38 liters) of water via drip irrigation system every week to two weeks. Irrigate during the hottest and driest months for about two years, lessening the irrigation frequency as the tree grows. Remember not to allow water to collect around the base of the tree. [9] Arrange your irrigation system so that water drips around the tree, not directly onto its base, where it can cause rot. 3 Taper your care off as the tree grows. As your oak grows and its roots deepen, you will need to care for it less and less. Eventually, it will be big and tall enough that animals won't be able to kill it and its roots will be deep enough for it to survive the summer without any watering. Slowly, over several years, reduce the amount of care you give your tree (which, aside from watering during dry months and protecting it from animals, should not be all that much).

Eventually, your tree should be able to thrive on its own without showing any signs of distress. Enjoy the lifelong gift you've given yourself and your family! Within 20 years, your oak may begin producing acorns of its own, though, depending on the species, optimal acorn growth may not occur for up to 50 years. Community Q&A If this question (or a similar one) is answered twice in this section, please click here to let us know. Video This video shows you how to plant acorns. It does make a mistake at the end. Tips Even small oak trees lose their leaves in the fall season (autumn), so don't be discouraged if all the leaves turn brown or fall off. Just wait for spring. Place a stake into the ground with a screen around the seedling so that animals are not able to eat it. Look about to see if the acorn came from an attractive and healthy looking tree. Use another better looking tree if the parent tree has problems. Don't get discouraged, no matter how long it takes. The mighty oak that grew was once a little nut just like yours. Make sure you remember to water the sapling and not neglect it or it'll wither.

Keep your seedling inside for the winter, and if you are growing it in fall, keep it inside until spring. Things You'll Need Updated: Views: 1,011,290 "Finding the acorns either green or browning, floating them to find the heavy ones to plant, and the question about topping the trees helped. I know you could shape them, but not top them."..." more - Patsy Allgood "My daughter collected acorns, and was keen to grow a tree. This article was fantastic, with simple, clear instructions and diagrams. We are looking forward to growing our trees."..." more - Janine Rice "I throw away thousands of collected acorns every year from my land. Your article on growing them has encouraged me to replace dead trees or to fill a gap."..." more - Ken Edgar "Taking care of the oak during its first 2 yrs. was very helpful, as I had not realized the dangers of aphids & other insects and animals until now."..." more - Carol Holmes "This article was very informative and easy to follow. My grandson and I are growing an oak tree that he can watch grow. "..." more - Alyson Fahy Covers all aspects efficiently and quickly.

Well done. - Mike Van Kampen Good information, especially on protecting trees. - Jeff Larson Very helpful. Filled out my limited knowledge. - Robert McNeil It's such a useful article for me. Thanks. - Hirofumi Yamaguchi Float test, depth to plant helped most. - Mason Henderson The depth to use when planting helped. - Colin Acorns: Types, Uses, Cooking Tips and Nutrition Acorns Acorns are nuts from oak trees. There are really, from a food aspect, two types of acorns: Spanish and North African acorns, and all the rest. The acorns most worth bothering with are considered to be those of the oak tree known variously as holly, holm or ilex oak (Quercus ilex var rotundifolia -- aka var ballota) which grows all around the Mediterranean, including particularly north-west Africa, Spain and Portugal. These are long, cylindrical acorns. When fine Spanish ham makers boast about their pigs being allowed to eat acorns, you may have wondered why eating those bitter old things would improve the taste of their meat. It is in fact these nuts, which the Spanish call "ballotas", that the pigs eat.

In some parts of Europe, pigs still allowed to room the woods and eat these acorns; a pig will eat 22 to 26 pounds (10 to 12 kg) of the nuts a day. These trees are even cultivated for their acorns, and some think them as good as chestnuts. These would have been the ones that a Duchess (in Don Quixote) would have bothered asking for. They can be eaten out of hand like nuts (once shelled, of course.) In Spain, the acorn season is called "montanera." These acorns are also used in Morocco for making flour and oil from. Acorns everywhere else in the world are bitter to a greater or less extent owing to tannins in them. They have to be "processed" first before they can be eaten by humans through a leaching process. To do this, shell the acorns first, but leave them whole. Boil in water, but as soon as the water turns a light yellowy brown, replace the water with fresh water and start the boiling process over again. Repeat this process for about 2 hours or until the water stays clear.

Some people advise to soak for several days in water, changing the water frequently, and then boil. They turn dark brown after the boiling. Alternatively, tie them up in a piece of cheesecloth or in a nylon stocking, and hang them inside the toilet tank (nb: tank, not bowl.) The tannins leak out into the water, and the water gets changed everytime someone flushes. This, however, can discolour your toilet bowl, and may make the Acorns sound even less appealing to your guests when you tell you how you prepared their meal. You need to leave them in the tank for about 4 days. After processing, roast the Acorns in a 350 F / 180 C oven for an hour. At this point, you can start to use them, but before you do, do a taste test to make sure all the bitterness has gone before you start cooking with them. If all this sounds like a lot of work, remember tapioca is also a lot of work; we just never have to do it.

And it's the same with olives: they have to go through a similar leaching process to get the bitterness out to make them edible, Some have tried curing acorns as you would olives, in brine or in lye, but acorns have not responded well to the treatment, either in terms of taste, texture or appearance. Given all the work, though, some say the taste at the end with this kind of acorns just isn't worth the effort. There are two main types of oaks in North America: Red oaks: pointy points, dark-coloured, deeply ridged-bark; White oaks: rounded points, greyish-brown bark, more scaly. Some people say that acorns from white oaks can be used without the water processing first, because they are less bitter than acorns from red oaks. Others say that they though acorns from white oaks are less bitter, they are still best water processed first.

Some of the better tasting North American acorns are from these trees in the white oak family: California Live Oak (aka Quercus agrifolia Nee, not the same as Interior or Virginia Live Oak, aka Quercus virginiana.) Has long, skinny acorns.; Burr Oak; Chestnut Oak (sic); Oregon White Oak (aka White Oak, Post Oak, Brewer Oak, Quercus garryana.) Emery Oak Acorns, harvested in New Mexico, West Texas and central and southern Arizona, require no leaching before eating, just either roasting to eat out of hand, or cooking in a recipe. In Japan, the oak tree that produces the best acorns for eating is called "Matebashii" (Pasania edulis.) The leaves of the tree, which are evergreen, don't look anything like a North American or a European would think of as an oak leaf, though.

In fact, it's no longer classified scientifically as an oak, and is also called a "Japanese False Oak." In China, acorns are eaten from the oak species whose scientific name is "Quercus cornea." Substitutes Hazelnuts, chestnuts Nutrition The protein in ranges from 2.3 - 8.6 % of weight. Compare with wheat, at around 11 1/2 % of weight. History Notes Indians in North America used acorns as a food. Some tribes leached them in running streams. Literature & Lore They tell me there are big acorns in your village; send me a couple of dozen or so, and I shall value them greatly as coming from your hand; and write to me at length to assure me of your health and well-being; and if there be anything you stand in need of, it is but to open your mouth, and that shall be the measure; and so God keep you. From this place, Your loving friend, THE DUCHESS." -- Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote, Chapter 50.

Language Notes A person who eats acorns is a "balanophagist." Acorns What Kind of Oak Tree Has Huge Acorns? | Home Guides | SF Gate What Kind of Oak Tree Has Huge Acorns? What Kind of Oak Tree Has Huge Acorns? Huge oaks can live to be 200 years old. Acorns are the fruit of oak trees. Every fall these often massive, stately trees produce a rain of acorns that are quickly eaten, buried, or stored by a wide variety of animals. Acorn size varies from one-fourth inch to over 2 or 3 inches, depending on the species. Ancient Celts believed the oak symbolized longevity and durability as these massive trees often withstood lightning strikes and lived to bear fruit the next year. Oaks Oaks play an important part in the ecology of their environment. Their deciduous, leathery leaves provide a dense canopy home for birds and animals and later rich compost for acid-loving plants. A failed acorn crop impacts the entire wildlife population of an area. Squirrels, bears, deer, birds, and small mammals like chipmunks and mice depend on acorns as a rich source of nutrition.

Indigenous peoples once depended on acorns for a large part of their diet. Tannins from oaks are used to dye leather. Oaks are divided into two groups: red oaks and white oaks. White oaks have leaves with rounded lobes. Their acorns are sweet and develop in six months. Red oak leaves are pointed with tiny bristles at the ends of lobes. Their acorns are bitter and take two years to develop, remaining overwinter on a defoliated tree. Red Oaks In the red oak group, Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) acorns are rounded and ¾ to 1 inch in diameter. Scarlet oak in hardy in U. S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 through 9, predominantly in the Eastern U. S. In the west, California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii) acorns are elongated and 1 to 1 1/3 inches in diameter. The California Black Oak is hardy in U. S. zones 7 to 10 and is found predominately in Oregon and California.

White Oaks Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) acorns are 1 to 2 inches long and have a deep, fringed, or burred edge to their acorn cup. They are found in the Midwest and the East and are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9. The Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) is a native of California and produces sharply taper, elongated acorns about an inch long. This oak is hardy in USDA zones 9 through 10. The Noteworthy Oak The hands down champion for acorn size is Quercus insignis. Native to South America, Mexico and Puerto Rico, this large, stately oak produces large, globose acorns that can reach the size of chicken eggs, up to 3 inches in diameter. Dubbed "the noteworthy oak," this species does not presently grow in the U. S. and is not presently in production as a new ornamental. But, like many unique tropical plants, nurserymen and plant breeders are eyeing it with the hopes it could become a new exotic ornamental tree. George A. Petrides; Peterson Field Guides Eastern Trees Susan J.

Wernert; Reader's Digest North American Wildlife Geoff Bryant; The Plant Book Richard Condit; Trees of Panama and Costa Rica About the Author Kathy Imbriani's love of gardening grew from a childhood spent on the family farm. She is the co-author of two gardening books and numerous articles on science and gardening subjects. Imbriani holds a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from North Carolina State University. Photo Credits

Question: Acorns come from which species of tree?
Answer: Oaks