Natural History

Acorn

The acorn is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera Quercus, Notholithocarpus and Lithocarpus, in the family Fagaceae); alternatively known as glans. It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), enclosed in a tough shell known as the pericarp, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. 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.

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See also

• ▸Fauna of Great Britain
• ▸1986 in spaceflight
• ▸Host (biology)

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