[Jacob-list] acorns

[Hobsickle at aol.com]

A short Biology lesson for your consideration:
 
Not all oak trees are created equal.  Oak trees are generally divided  into 
three groups: White, Red, and Black.  According to the Field Guide  to North 
American Edible Wild Plants, the White Oak acorns are "usually  sweet and need 
no leaching to remove tannins," and are considered  edible by people.  Red and 
Black Oaks, on the other hand, are "nearly  always bitter" (contain tannins).
 
After 25 years of teaching, I'm guessing that the next question will be  "how 
do you tell the difference between White oaks and the other Oaks?"   Well, 
White oaks are smooth (rounded) on the lobes of the leaves and  the Red/Black 
Oaks have little points on the lobes of the leaves.  Also,  the White's acorns 
are falling from this years growth (the others from last),  and the inside of 
the White's acorn caps is smooth (the others are "hairy" or  fuzzy).  I would 
speculate, though, that the easiest way to tell right now  is if your sheep eat 
them or not.  I can't really see well-fed sheep diving  into bitter acorns.
 
-Dan
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