Acorns

 

Oak trees produce acorns as their fruit. There are hundreds of species of oak trees worldwide, with roughly 90 endemic to the United States. Acorns are simple to gather. They keep well and are pretty easy to prepare. The majority of acorn species, similar to wheat and maize, have no taste. As a result, they may be employed in a number of situations. For millennia, these features are likely to have made them a key food source. Ancient peoples such as the Assyrians and Greeks, as well as Chinese and Native Americans, ate them on a daily basis.

An oak is a member of the Fagaceae (beech) family of trees. Oaks are found in about 500 different species. The common term "oak" may also be found in the names of species in adjacent genera, such as Lithocarpus (stone oaks), as well as unrelated species like Grevillea robusta (silky oaks) and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). Quercus is a genus of deciduous and evergreen trees endemic to the Northern Hemisphere, with species ranging from chilly temperate to tropical climates in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. With around 160 species in Mexico, 109 of which are indigenous, and about 90 in the United States, North America contains the most oak species. China has the second-highest diversity of oak species, with over 100 species.

Many species of oak have spirally arranged leaves with lobate edges; others have serrated or whole leaves with smooth margins. Many deciduous trees are marcescent, meaning they don't lose their dead leaves until the spring. A single oak tree produces both male and female flowers (in the form of catkins) in the spring, indicating that the trees are monoecious. The fruit is an acorn or oak nut that grows in a cup-like structure called a cupule. Each acorn carries one seed (sometimes two or three) and matures in 6–18 months, depending on the species. Tannic acid is found in the acorns and leaves, which serves to protect the tree against fungus and insects. Live oaks are known for their evergreen nature, however they are not a separate species and are found across the genus.