\nNumerous red oaks grow around here. They are beautiful trees for lining the streets; their leaves turn familiar, attractive colors in the fall as one might imagine. I’ve noticed abundant acorns from some.<\/p>\n
\nYet, there is one stately specimen of red oak a couple of blocks away which never seems to produce acorns. I’ve looked around it year after year but not found any. I’ve wondered many times why might this be; perhaps I’ve found an answer.<\/p>\n
\nIt turns out that oak trees are wind-pollinated. Although they produce both male and female flowers on any given tree (that is, they are monoecious – see my post here<\/a>), they typically don’t self-pollinate, which is known as self-incompatibility. Therefore, being wind-pollinated, a given oak needs to be near others to get pollinated. Otherwise, it won’t produce acorns.<\/p>\n \nThe red oak that doesn’t seem to produce acorns…I realize it’s isolated from other oaks. Perhaps it’s out of range for wind pollination. Yet, it’s a prosperous tree which I always enjoy visiting.<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n internationaloaksociety.org<\/a><\/p>\nJack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane,<\/a> Campbell River, BC.\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Self-tutoring about trees: the tutor mentions an observation that’s confused him, with a possible explanation. Numerous red oaks grow around here. They are beautiful trees for lining the streets; their leaves turn familiar, attractive colors in the fall as one …<\/p>\n