This is just a quick little blog about a fascinating topic
I always wondered about but never really
made the effort to understand.
Sex and the Oak Tree.
When I went outside yesterday, I noticed
a lot of gold "pollen" tassels hanging from
my oak trees. I know this is where all of that
disgusting yellow pollen dust comes from
every spring. It covers the whole world for a few weeks
and makes many of us sneeze.
But what is it's purpose?
I googled it and this is what I found.
They are called "catkins" (from the Dutch for kitten tail).
They are actually the male sex apparatus of the oak tree.
The female sex apparatus are small inconspicuous
flowers mainly found toward the top of the tree.
The catkins release their pollen over a 4 day period each spring.
The spent catkins then fall to the ground.
The yellow pollen released into the air gets blown
to the female flowers to fertilize them.
The babies are the much dreaded acorns which
carpet our lawns in the fall, embedding themselves
in the soil and sprouting the following spring
in an attempt to produce more oak trees.
Heavy spring rains may affect the release of the pollen
and its ability to pollinate the female flower,
which in turn affects the acorn crop in the fall.
(We can only hope)
Also, acorns on the White Oak mature in 1 season,
while it takes 2 seasons for acorns to mature
on the Red Oak.
That's all for now!
Have a great day!
