Acorn

The word acorn (earlier akerne, and acharn) is related to the Gothic name akran, which had the sense of "fruit of the unenclosed land".

Wildlife that consume acorns as an important part of their diets include birds, such as jays, pigeons, some ducks, and several species of woodpeckers.

[10] In Spain, Portugal and the New Forest region of southern England, pigs are still turned loose in dehesas (large oak groves) in the autumn, to fill and fatten themselves on acorns.

Since tannins, which are plant polyphenols, interfere with an animal's ability to metabolize protein, creatures must adapt in different ways to use the nutritional value acorns contain.

Acorns of the white oak group, Leucobalanus, typically start rooting as soon as they are in contact with the soil (in the fall), then send up the leaf shoot in the spring.

Scatter-hoarding behavior depends on jays and squirrels associating with plants that provide good packets of food that are nutritionally valuable, but not too big for the dispersal agent to handle.

[20] In some cultures, acorns once constituted a dietary staple, though they have largely been replaced by grains and are now typically considered a relatively unimportant food, except in some Native American and Korean communities.

[25] For instance, the Ancient Greek lower classes and the Japanese (during the Jōmon period)[26] would eat acorns, especially in times of famine.

Despite this history, acorns rarely form a large part of modern diets and are not currently cultivated on scales approaching that of many other nuts.

However, if properly prepared (by selecting high-quality specimens and leaching out the bitter tannins in water), acorn meal can be used in some recipes calling for grain flours.

Varieties preferred by Native Americans, such as Quercus kelloggii (California black oak), may be easier to prepare or more palatable.

In the 17th century, a juice extracted from acorns was administered to habitual drunkards to cure them of their condition or else to give them the strength to resist another bout of drinking.

Acorns are a traditional food of many indigenous peoples of North America, and long served an especially important role for Californian Native Americans, where the ranges of several species of oaks overlap, increasing the reliability of the resource.

After drying in the sun to discourage mould and germination, acorns could be cached in hollow trees or structures on poles to keep them safe from mice and squirrels.

[citation needed] Fires also released the nutrients bound in dead leaves and other plant debris into the soil, thus fertilizing oak trees while clearing the ground to make acorn collection easier.

Most North American oaks tolerate light fires, especially when consistent burning has eliminated woody fuel accumulation around their trunks.

A motif in Roman architecture, also popular in Celtic and Scandinavian art, the acorn symbol is used as an ornament on cutlery, furniture, and jewelry; it also appears on finials at Westminster Abbey.