Acorn

oak trees · seeds · nature

Oak tree babies. Acorns are the seeds of oak trees. Each acorn holds a baby seedling surrounded by two special food packages called cotyledons that help it grow.

Built-in armor. Each acorn has a super tough shell called a pericarp that protects the seedling inside, plus a cute cup-shaped holder called a cupule that the acorn sits in.

Tiny but mighty. Acorns are pretty small, usually between 1 to 6 centimeters long, about the size of your thumb or smaller.

Patience required. It takes acorns a really long time to grow up and be ready to plant themselves, anywhere from 5 months to almost 2 years depending on the type of oak tree.