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In The U.S. there are about 50 different oak trees. The acorn does not look like a typical nut. It has a hard shell that doesn’t split open. In the spring the flowers or oaks appear. The tiny male pollen-bearing ones are borne in strings call catkins. Nearby a cluster of female flowers appear. Each fertilized one will turn into an acorn that is set in a cup formed by a rosette of tiny leaflets, or bracts. The tops are called cups, and the other part is the acorn. Some cups are shallow some are deep. The acorns of some oaks ripen by the end of summer, while others take two seasons to mature. Some are bitter, others are not. At one time Native Americans used them as staple food. They are enjoyed by squirrel sand other animals. Oaks bear acorns for a long, long time. Sometimes they flourish for centuries. The Acorn is the most favored by squirrels.
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| Squirrels eat a lot of nuts. One of them is the black walnut. The descriptive name of black comes from the dark color of the tree’s bark and wood. The walnut’s big compound leaves are made up of 15 to 23 leaflets; often the tip leaflet is missing. The male flowers are massed on strings about 3 in. long, and spikes of from 2 to 5 female flowers are borne nearby. Wind carries pollen to fertilize them. As a female flower matures, its green fruit becomes a round oblong seed containing, up to 2 in. in diameter. Inside there is a grooved, two valve woody shell protecting the lobbed and wrinkled seed. The seed is the meat of the nut, it is rich in oil. Dye is sometimes extracted from the bitter husks. People and animals love walnut meat, which ranks high as a nutritious food. Nuts were an important food source to the Native American tribes. The nut that you see in grocery stores is the English walnut. The black walnut is very interesting. |
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Almond trees, cultivated in mild climates, are closely related to peach trees. The pink flowers, each with 5 petals, are similar, but the fruits are different. The peaches juicy, good to eat pulp is in the almond replaced by a thick hard husk. A maturity, this case splits to release the nut that contains the edible seed, the nut meat. There are many kinds of almonds, and some have hard shells, some have soft like paper shells. Some almond meat is sweet, but others it is bitter. The kernels of bitter almonds contain prussic acid; this poison is removed if oil from nut meats is to be used in flavoring extracts. Sweet almond are used in all sort of confectionery. The thin brown skin on the meat slip off easily after the kernel has been put in scolding hot water for a few moments. The typical almond tree grows from 20 to 30 feet in height and looks like your typical peach tree. An almond tree only produces nuts in areas were late frost will not destroy the flowers. The almond is used for many different things and it tastes good too. | |
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The American hazel nut grows wild in many eastern parts of the U.S., were a second species, the beaked hazelnut is less common. These 2 are the only hazelnuts that are native of this country. This species is close to the filbert, the cobnut, and the Barcelona nut. They all belong to the Corylus genus, and this botanical name is from a Greek word meaning helmet. It describes the husk that covers the full grown hard dash shell nut. The American hazelnut is found on a shrub or small, bushy tree that thrives in clumps and thickets at the edge of the woods. The plant will get up to 6 feet high. Its heart-shaped leaves, which as saw toothed edges, grow up to 5 in. long. Before the leaves appear the hazelnuts flowers are in bloom. The ones formed the previous year are ready to shed their pollen in March or early April. The female flowers are like tiny bugs with red stigmas protruding from them. As a fertilized flower develops, 2 of the inner scales that surround the ovary enlarge to become a stiff, split edged covering this “helmet” of them completely encloses the mature nut. It is round oval in shape; the ripe nut is about one dash half inch high and has a rough base marking the place where it was attached to the husk. The meat inside the woody shell is very good to eat. One half of its wait is oil, used in perfumes, medicines, and valued charcoal sticks. The hazelnut is a very delicious nut. |
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There are numerous kinds of Hickory nut trees that are native to the eastern U.S. On a mature tree the bark is broken into thick flat flakes that curl out ward making the trunk shaggy. The nuts develop from fertilized female flowers. The fruit husk splits in to 4 sections to release the shell that protects the seed. The shape of the nuts varies but all are delicious. The hickories timer is commercially important. Since it is strong and springy it is used for golf clubs, axe handles, and other implements. Burning hickory logs gives off a smoke that flavors grilled meat. Among the various species. There are some, such as the pecan, pignut, and bitternut that have thin husks. The mocker nut and shag bark have thick husks. It is a cool nut.
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