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| Canyon Live Oak acorns and caps (Quercus chrysolepis) |
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| Acorns from Tan Oak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) & Canyon Live Oak |
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| California Black Oak acorns (Quercus kelloggii) |
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| Interior Live Oak acorns (possibly a hybrid Q. wislizenii x kelloggii) |
The real acorn mother load came today when we were
traveling up to the Palomar Observatory. As we rapidly gained
elevation the forests
quickly transitioned from Coastal Sage Scrub to Lower and
Upper Chaparral communities.
At the summit there were even conifers such as White Fir (Abies concolor) and Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) amongst patches of
snow. The biggest surprise for me was
seeing Bigcone Douglas Fir (Psuedotsuga
macrocarpa), which as the name implies, has a large cone (about twice the
size of a normal Douglas Fir), but otherwise looks the same. While rounding a corner in the midst of the
Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis)
forests I noticed acorns strewn across the road and quickly yanked the car into
a pull off. The acorns were huge! The largest were 45 mm long and 20 mm wide
and they had a rich even brown color and a waxy smooth finish except for the bluntly
rounded tip which had a fuzzy white coating.
There was another type of acorn that was also very large but
was shorter and wider, perhaps Tan Oak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus),
but I couldn’t find any leaves or caps. We quickly collected about 2 gallons of
acorns just on the road shoulder. When
we arrived at the observatory we saw some very large Canyon Live Oaks, but the
acorns were slightly smaller. Planted
along the path to the Hale Telescope were several Black Oaks (Quercus kelloggii) that despite heavy loads
of Broadleaf Mistletoe (Phoradendron
macrophyllum), were producing good crops of acorns that were 28-35 mm long
and 18-23 mm wide.* Time was slipping
away all too quickly but we hastily collected a gallon to experiment with. Black Oak was one of the preferred acorns varieties
by the Kumeyaay and the Luiseno, who may have relied on acorns
for nearly half of their diet (see here and here for ethnobotanical information). Just a few steps closer to the Hale Telescope
we encountered yet another oak species, Interior Live Oak (Quercus wislizenii), which was still dropping acorns. I collected a quick half gallon to experiment
with. The acorns were 30-35 mm long and
13-15 mm wide.* One of the trees had well
developed lobes and I think was a hybrid with Q. kelloggii. There wasn’t
much to see when we finally made it to the massive 200” Hale Telescope since it
was still light out, but I spotted a Western Blue Bird with Katrina’s 1.5”
binoculars. Her binoculars also proved
useful for the rest of the trip for watching the moons of Jupiter.
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| Coastal Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) |
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| Coastal Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) acorn |
From there we drove down the mountain and
towards Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Along
the way we encountered some beautiful savannah grown Coastal Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) that were still
dropping acorns. These acorns were long
(40-45 mm) and slender (12-15 mm) with striations.* I only had time to collect a cup full because
we wanted to find a camp before dark.
Our small scenic road merged with route 79 and then 78 as we continued
to drop elevation. A constant stream of
RV’s towing ATV’s met us going the other direction. Apparently, the week between Christmas and
New Years is the high season for many desert parks and recreation areas. By the time we found a level section of
desert to throw out our bedrolls the sun had already set.
*Note:
all measurements were taken from acorns that we collected, which were
systematically collected for their average to large size.
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