Where Are The Pin Oak Acorns?
By Don Janssen, UNL Extension Educator The reason for the lack of acorns on pin oak and red oak trees is the freeze of April 2007. Now, that may lead one to ask an additional question: What does a freeze that happened over a year ago have to do with this year? The answer is: Everything! The red oak family has an interesting habit in the fact that it takes two seasons for acorns to form. The first year, the tree forms what are called acornets which are immature acorns. These small growths are hardly noticeable at all on the tree. The second year, they develop into what we know as an acorn. The freeze of April 2007 killed the developing acornets, thus halting the production of an acorn crop in 2008. Keep in mind, this only pertains to members of the red oak family such as pin and red. Members of the white oak family such as swamp, only take a year to develop so there is an acorn set on these trees.
