Acorns

 

I have written at least twice in the past, once Last November, and previously in October, 2012, about the size and the number of acorns that fall here at the Boggy Thicket.  Both times, I mentioned that the acorns from the white oak trees were HUGE.

This year is a little different.

It’s still early for acorns to be dropping, but a couple of days ago, I noticed that the top of our generator was covered with something that I didn’t recognize right away,  They were little round balls that appeared from a distance to be covered with tiny scales.  Only about 1/4 inch in diameter, they almost appeared to be fuzzy. 

My first thought was that they were some kind of fungus or mushroom, but close inspection showed that they were – or would have been – acorns.  The balls were what would have been the caps on the acorns had they continued to develop normally.

The strange weather cycles this summer – months of extremely wet days followed by months of drought – have been hard on a lot of plants.  We may have lost some of our azaleas that have been growing for over thirty years.  I suspect that the weather may have led to the oaks suffering a sort of acorn miscarriage.

The oaks are not due to drop their acorns for another month, so it’s too early to tell how many are still developing.  I suspect that – like stressed plants that drop only some of their leaves – the oaks only dropped some of their acorns and there will still be plenty that make it to maturity.