Īcorns are attractive to animals because they are large and thus efficiently consumed or cached. The larvae of some moths and weevils also live in young acorns, consuming the kernels as they develop. Heavy consumption of acorns can, on the other hand, be toxic to other animals that cannot detoxify their tannins, such as horses and cattle. 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. Large mammals such as pigs, bears, and deer also consume large amounts of acorns they may constitute up to 25% of the diet of deer in the autumn.
Acorns can cause painful death in equines, especially if eaten to excess amounts. Acorns have a large influence on small rodents in their habitats, as large acorn yields help rodent populations to grow. Small mammals that feed on acorns include mice, squirrels and several other rodents. Wildlife that consume acorns as an important part of their diets include birds, such as jays, pigeons, some ducks, and several species of woodpeckers. Acorns, along with other nuts, are termed mast. The volume of the acorn crop may vary widely, creating great abundance or great stress on the many animals dependent on acorns and the predators of those animals. Ecological role Īcorns play an important role in forest ecology when oaks are plentiful or dominant in the landscape. The current spelling (emerged 15c.-16c.), derives from association with ac (Old English: "oak") + corn. By degrees, popular etymology connected the word both with "corn" and "oak-horn", and the spelling changed accordingly. Chaucer spoke of "achornes of okes" in the 14th century. The word was applied to the most important forest produce, that of the oak. The word acorn (earlier akerne, and acharn) is related to the Gothic name akran, which had the sense of "fruit of the unenclosed land". Acorns take between 5 and 24 months (depending on the species) to mature see the list of Quercus species for details of oak classification, in which acorn morphology and phenology are important factors. Two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. It usually contains one seed (occasionally The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera Quercus and Lithocarpus, in the family Fagaceae). †Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
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