The Celts preferred to knock on oak wood. Zeus is mangled through Dead Latin then into English.) Those faithful to ZEFF… ah… Zeus… gathered around oak trees. Greeks of old said “dryas.” Modern Greek say “dris.” It was the preferred tree of Zeus (whom the Greeks call ZEFF, rhymes with Jeff. 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. The English word “oak” is some 1,260 years old. But, it does remind me of a general rule of thumb about acorns: The bigger the cap on the acorn, compared to the size of the nut, the more bitter the nut will be. I’d hate to meet the squirrel that can carry it away. Raleigh calls itself “The City of Oaks.” The “Big Acorn” is 10 feet tall and weights 1,250 pounds. ![]() Let’s start with that fact that the world’s biggest acorn is in Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ll try to say a few things that haven’t been said. 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.Ī lot has been said about acorns in foraging publications. The first time you eat an acorn it makes you wonder what the squirrels are going nuts about. Reference: Manos et al.World’s Largest Acorn Acorn: More than a survival food shrevei, Quercus wislizeni ( Quercus ×morehus Kellogg). Flowering Time: Mid Feb-May Note: Hybridizes with Quercus agrifolia, Quercus parvula var. Bioregional Distribution: CA-FP (exc GV, SCo, ChI), MP Distribution Outside California: Oregon, Baja California. Fruit: cup 16-25 mm wide, 15-25 mm deep, generally cup-shaped, scales thin, not tubercled, glabrous to puberulent nut 20-35 mm, oblong-ovoid, puberulent, distally obtuse to +- rounded, shell woolly inside mature in year 2.Įcology: Slopes, valleys, woodland, conifer forest Elevation: 30-2660 m. Leaf: (6)9-20 cm petiole (3)10-40 mm blade widely elliptic, obovate, or +- round, adaxially glabrous, bright green, abaxially finely tomentose, +- glabrous in age, pale green, tip generally acute, bristled, margin lobes generally 6 per leaf, with 1-4 coarse, generally bristle-tipped teeth. Habit: Tree < 35 m, deciduous trunk bark deeply furrowed, checkered, dark gray-brown to black. Phylogeny, biogeography, and processes of molecular differentiation of Quercus subgenus Quercus (Fagaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 56: 336-363 Manos, P. Hybridization and introgression in Quercus alba. Oak hybridization at the University of Utah. Quercus robur added, as waif.ĮFlora Treatment Author: Thomas J. Reproduction of many species declining due to habitat degradation or loss as well as disease. Chromosomes: 2n=24.Įtymology: (Latin: ancient name for oak) Note: Many named hybrids those (3) treated here form widespread populations most others occur as single individuals, and some but not all of these are mentioned here, under the first parent treated (alphabetically). Fruit: nut 1, partly enclosed by cup-like involucre (cup) with appressed scales (nut and cup = acorn), remnants of perianth and style persistent as small point at tip scales tubercled to not mature in years 1 (on younger stems) or 2 (on older stems). Pistillate Flower: calyx minute, generally 6-lobed ovary enclosed by involucre. Pistillate Inflorescence: in distal leaf axils, short-stalked flower generally 1. ![]() Staminate Inflorescence: catkins, 1-several, pendent, slender, proximal on twig. Leaf: stipules small, generally early-deciduous. ![]() Lithocarpus densiflorus moved to Notholithocarpus.ĮFlora Treatment Author: John M. Note: Wood of Quercus critical for pre-20th century ship-building, charcoal for metallurgy some now supply wood ( Fagus, Quercus), cork ( Quercus suber), food ( Castanea, chestnut). Genera In Family: 7 genera, +- 900 species: generally northern hemisphere. Fruit: 1 nut subtended, partly enclosed by scaly, cup-like involucre or 1-3 nuts subtended, enclosed by spiny, bur-like involucre mature years 1-2. Pistillate Flower: calyx generally 6-lobed, minute petals 0 ovary inferior, style branches generally 3. Staminate Flower: calyx generally 4-6-lobed, minute petals 0 stamens 4-12+. Pistillate Inflorescence: 1-few-flowered, generally above staminate inflorescence involucre bracts many, generally overlapping, flat or cylindric. ![]() Staminate Inflorescence: catkin or stiff spike, many-flowered. Leaf: simple, alternate, petioled margin entire to lobed stipules small, generally deciduous. Habit: Shrub, tree, evergreen or not monoecious.
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