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Herbal Database Search ResultsBack to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven Quercus chrysolepis
Physical CharacteristicsAn evergreen tree growing to 25m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 7 and is frost tender. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use. The plant prefers medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure. Habitats and Possible LocationsWoodland, Canopy.Edible UsesCoffee Seed.
Seed - cooked[161, 177]. A staple food for several native North
American Indian tribes[257]. The seed is about 3cm long and wide[82, 200] and
can be up to 5cm long and wide[82]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and
used as a thickening in stews etc or mixed with cereals for making bread. The
seed contains bitter tannins - these can be leached out by thoroughly
washing the seed in running water though many minerals will also be lost.
Either the whole seed can be used or the seed can be dried and ground it into
a powder. It can take several days or even weeks to properly leach whole
seeds, one method was to wrap them in a cloth bag and place them in a stream.
Leaching the powder is quicker. A simple taste test can tell when the tannin
has been leached. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it
in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring
when it would have lost most of its astringency.
Medicinal UsesDisclaimerAstringent. Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[4]. Other UsesDye Fuel Repellent Tannin Wood.
A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves
should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth.
Cultivation detailsPrefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side[1, 11]. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[200]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[200].Prefers warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, trees often grow poorly in this country and fail to properly ripen their wood resulting in frost damage overwinter[200]. A slow-growing but long-lived tree in the wild[229]. When killed by forest fires it often resprouts from the roots[229]. Seed production is cyclic, occasional years of high yields being followed by several years of low yields[229]. The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[200, 229]. Intolerant of root disturbance, trees should be planted in their permanent positions whilst young[11]. Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[200]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200]. PropagationSeed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees[11]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly.SuppliersFor more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look. Web References
References for the family Fagaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources. Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images. References[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951 [4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 [11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981 [61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202 [82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X [161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture. [177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169 [200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5 [229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622 [257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9 Readers Commentsmaking flour from acornsJohn Rutherford (johnr@dynamite.com.au) Mon Jan 24 10:49:48 2000 I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction in regard to processing acorns for food. your list mentions a number of preferred trees (american indians mainly) and i have tried the following: Q. palustris (pin oak), Q. lobata (valley oak), Q. macrocarpa (burr oak) and Q. robur (english oak). Pin Oak (Q. palustris) was a waste of time because of the difficulty in shelling small acorns. the acorns also have the brown skin covering the kernal which apparantly adds a bitter taste if not removed. Both the valley and burr oaks were quite successful. both trees supplied large acorns and both were free of the offending brown skin. The english oak was also worth the effort although I gather that some trees have sweet acorns and others produce acorns with a fair quantity of tannin. Method: the shelled acorns were ground in a kitchen blender with enough water to help the blender go round. the slush was then put in a large metal dish and stirred thoroughly, then allowed to settle for 12 hours. the brown tannic water was poured off into another metal dish and more clear water was added to the slush and stirred. This was repeated about 4 times before the water remained relatively clean (pale light brown or fawn). this was strained through a tea towel and the resulting acorn meal was placed in a dish and allowed to dry out. The resulting "flour" was used to make fairly basic scones (egg, salt, butter and "flour" mixed together) and made very pleasant eating. the processed acorns make a rather sweet tasting flour and if someone else did all the work i could make it my staple diet. Disadvantages include: shelling the acorns. leaching the mush/slush for 2 or three days and getting so little acorn meal out of a lot of acorns. Questions: a. does tannin accumulate in the body? assuming that even the best leaching will leave some tannic acid - will a constant diet eventually damage the kidneys? (or is it the liver?). b. does the tannic acid remove itself if the acorn is kept for a year? or if it is buried and sprouted? or if it is roasted? - will roasting in some way destroy the tannin? c. is the flour a good substitute for cereal flours for those allergic to grains (celiac? allergy)? d. does anyone know a good way of shelling acorns? e. are there any commercial suppliers of acorn flour? f. when the comment in the pfaf list says of an acorn "can be eaten out of hand", does this mean that it has a sweet taste and that you don't need strong jaws? I was interested to see that the initial water poured off (see para 5) when allowed to settle precipitated a reasonable amount of whitish sediment which I assume to be a variety of starch. I tasted a little bit of it (it was brittle) and it had a sweet taste and melted in the mouth. I rang the local university in the hope of getting it analysed but was told that it would cost me an arm and a leg for their trouble - therefore a further question: Question g. can anyone tell me if acorns produce a known type of starch - is this starch nutritious - if not starch what is? Would you be able to advise me in regard to a book on the preparation of acorns or a study of the nutritional value (and the dangers) of them. have you any contacts with someone who may be an expert in this regard? grateful if you could help in some way. Cross references: Plants: Quercus macrocarpa. Genera: Quercus. making flour from acornsUnknown Fri Dec 1 22:52:15 2000 Read j Russell smiths book Tree crops a permenant agriculture Cross references: Plants: Quercus macrocarpa. Genera: Quercus. Main Search Page Help Bibliography
Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest. |
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