The Year of The Oaks

[Native Hunter]

Native,
What do the acorns look like on your overcups? I have grown them for a few years now, but have always collected acorns from trees from a local wildlife management area that routinely floods. The acorns are like the acorns on the right in the photo below. The cap usually covers almost the entire acorn and the pericarp/shell is very thick. Last fall I found an apartment complex that used overcups as landscaping trees. A couple of the trees dropped a lot of acorns into November and the acorns are on the left in the photo. The caps are not as thick, do not extend that far down the acorn, and the pericarp is not that thick. It is my hope that the seedlings from the apartment trees will be abundant producers and that the wildlife will like the thin walled, small capped acorns more. I should be able to report back on my hypothesis in 15-20 years.

As an FYI, I have found that removing the cap from overcup acorns speeds up the germination process by several weeks.

Fishman, after all this time I thought of this thread today and your question. Below are some immature acorns from two different trees on a dry upland site. Pics taken today. It looks like mine will be completely covered, but I will try to remember to look again when they drop.

 

[Fishman]

Fishman, after all this time I thought of this thread today and your question. Below are some immature acorns from two different trees on a dry upland site. Pics taken today. It looks like mine will be completely covered, but I will try to remember to look again when they drop.

Definitely check again when they drop. They won't be dropping for a couple of more months, so the acorn might grow out of the cap.

The photo below illustrates the difference in shell thickness between the apartment overcup acorns on the right and the swamp overcup acorns on the left. It is my hope that the deer will eat the thinner shelled acorns. Time will tell.

 

[Native Hunter]

Definitely check again when they drop. They won't be dropping for a couple of more months, so the acorn might grow out of the cap.

The photo below illustrates the difference in shell thickness between the apartment overcup acorns on the right and the swamp overcup acorns on the left. It is my hope that the deer will eat the thinner shelled acorns. Time will tell.
View attachment 28464

I looked a little closer today and found two Overcups close to each other that are loaded. These are at a place I can check easily without going back into bedding areas. I went ahead and put a camera on them and will monitor for deer activity when they start falling.

It looks like another great year for swamp chestnut oaks too. I’ve been seeing those bear for a few years now, and the deer relish them. So far I have not seen one of those trees that didn’t bear well, and it looks like they are even more reliable than Sawtooth. I’ve seen good crops for at least the last 4 years since I have started paying more attention to them.

 

[weekender21]

NRO, black oak, and chestnut oak acorns dropping in western NC already. LOTS of fruit this year too. The deer won’t likely go hungry.


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