A woman came into Atmore Farm & Garden the other day with a bag of acorns.
“I thought you would like these,” she said. “I’m not sure what type of oak they’re from, but they sure look interesting.”
I’d never seen acorns like that! Look at the size of the caps!
I thanked her for the seeds and decided to look into it later. I put the acorns on the office desk and went back to work.
A week or so went by, and a man came into the shop. He started talking about deer forage and different oaks and their acorns. That reminded me of the bag of acorns on my desk.
I brought them out, and he tracked down the name of the oak.
It’s called the “overcup oak,” (Quercus lyrata) named after its remarkable acorns.
The nuts are reportedly quite good forage for wildlife, and the wood quality ranges from poor to excellent. According to the USDA, the species thrives in flood plains.
We’ll have to plant these seeds in one of our sand beds and start a few trees for the nursery. It grows slowly to become a massive tree. You can see an illustration of it here.
I don’t know how long it takes to produce acorns, but they sure are something. Little works of art.
There’s always space for another tree, right?
