Trivia Question

[Sawyerfortyish]

Heard this on the radio the other day. How old does an oak tree have to be before it produces acorns? Answer. About 50 yrs old!. Never gave it much thought is this right?

[Bud Man]

Acorn production varies greatly from species to species and even from region to region within the same species.  The Sawtooth Oak is the earliest and most reliable to produce yearly mast that I know at  5-7 years and is used very extensively in wildlife enhancement situations( ducks and deer) . Acorns production is dependent on the fertility of an area and variations within climatic conditions can prohibit trees in a given area from producing mast for a period of sometimes 5 - 10 years or more , with prolonged drought being the most effective deterrent to mast production ! Generally speaking the Oaks as a whole begin mast production from 15 to 35 or more years of age and some live to the age of  5- 700 years or longer in ideal conditions.

[swampwhiteoak]

I got an email a year or so ago with a bunch of random "facts".  The oak tree not producing acorns until 50 years was one of them.  Like the old saying goes "don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see".  

As Budman points out this one ain't true.  The half-truth is that the possibility for quality mast production would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 years for most oak species.