the mighty acorn

January 12, 2025  •  4 Comments

Given the massive, very nearly unstoppable fires burning in California, my guess is that some of you have been directly affected by the fires, or have friends or family who have been.  It is a tragedy of epic proportions considering the loss of human life, property, and infrastructure.  The destruction caused will change the area's landscape for decades, and it could take a century for the land itself to recover.   Like the horrendous fire that took Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, in 2023, entire communities have burned in the current fires driven by Santa Ana winds in southern California.   And yet amidst the thousands of structures destroyed by the fires, many trees are still standing.  It made me wonder if what I had read years ago about oak trees being fire resistant was true.  And that lead me to the photographs featured in today's blog.

Over 500 types of oak trees grow world wide, and there are 10 species of oaks that grow into trees (as opposed to those that are shrubs) native to California.  They are the Interior Live Oak, Island Oak, Oregon White Oak, Valley Oak, Black Oak, Blue or Douglass Oak, Canyon Live Oak, Coast Live Oak, Shreve Oak, and the Mesa or Engelmann Oak.  All are in the genus Quercus and to my knowledge, they all are somewhat fire resistant and they all produce acorns.  

Acorns are an amazing part of nature's cycle of life, and are simply mighty in their production.  Not to mention the fact that they are great fun to collect, roll between your fingers, and eventually photograph.  Acorns have a protective top called a cupule (what I always called a cap and others call a hat) which separates from the nut at the right time.  It is a thing of beauty.  I spent a chunk of time this week photographing possibly four different kinds of acorns, and quite frankly, I have no idea which trees produce them.  Here is an image of a cupule and an acorn.  They are not a match, seeing that the acorn did not fit in the cap, which was another clue that the acorn on the right was yet that of another species.  

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Getting the inside details of the relatively small cupule or cap below, was an interesting process in itself.

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Photographing the acorns in both natural light accompanied by occasional full and broken overcast as well as fill flash, again reminded me that if any day I have camera in hand and don't get a lesson in shadow and light, it is a surprise. Here is a linear acorn that looks like it could have been turned on a lathe.

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The acorns shown here are oblong but rounder in shape.  On different surfaces and in different lighting conditions, it is easy to see they are also different species.  
 

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The top of the acorn that is underneath the cupule is so interesting that I wanted to show the area where it is attached.  

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Thanks to all of you who commented this week - Tim A., Terry T., Ann A., Jean & Sam, Karren L., Steve, Victoria, Barbara F. R., and Bill and Sue.  It was good to hear from you as we moved through our first week of 2025.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image©
   


Comments

TTT(non-registered)
I like the texture and contrast of backgrounds in contrast to the smooth nut
Steve Immel(non-registered)
Thanks for the tutorial on the mighty oak. I didn't know there were so many species. Among my earliest memories are the oaks that populate the grassy hillsides of California's inland valleys from San Diego County to the East Bay.

I had wondered if you used any fill light and now I know. Your description of the polished acorn has having been turned on a lathe is most apt.
Gustavo(non-registered)
Nice post, DB.

During our last visit to San Diego, California last year, and through a series of events related to Katherine's poetry writing, we discovered that the oldest oak tree in North America lived very close to San Diego. It is the Pechanga Great Oak in Temecula, California (link below). We almost ventured to go see it; we were glad we didn't 'cause you need a special permit. Long story short: we had to schedule the visit to see it, and we did, for this year (the Pechanga people are very protective of this Earth giant, they only take small groups to visit it, and the wait list is long).

https://www.pechanga-nsn.gov/index.php/history/the-great-oak
Terry Thompson(non-registered)
Very educational Daryl, thanks for educating me about Oaks.
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