Photo by Douglas Goldman on iNaturalist · CC BY-SA 4.0 · photographed specimen identified as Quercus alba, a close relative
Acorns
Quercus spp.
- When
- Typically September – November — September, October, November. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Any oak — parks, streets, woodlots and savanna.
- How to know it
- Collect brown, freshly fallen nuts with no weevil holes; float them in water and discard the ones that swim.
- Look-alikes
- None, but raw acorns are too tannic to eat.
- Harvest and use
- Must be leached: grind, then rinse in repeated changes of water until the bitterness is gone. Flour for pancakes and bread. White oaks leach fastest.
- Caution
- Unleached acorns are astringent and hard on the stomach.
Found in these regions
- Boreal North & Taiga
- Boreal Forest & Shield
- Acadian Forest & Atlantic Coast
- Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Lowlands
- Northeast Atlantic Coast & Piedmont
- Appalachian Highlands
- Central Hardwoods & Interior Plateaus
- Southeastern Piedmont & Coastal Plain
- Gulf Coast & Mississippi Lowlands
- Florida Peninsula
- Prairies & Great Plains
- Western Mountains & Interior Plateaus
- Pacific Maritime
- Mediterranean California
- Deserts & Dry Basins
- Hawaiʻi & the Tropics
Is it ready near you?
Get this week's foraging guide for your area
Enter a town, postal code or ZIP and we'll tell you what's in season right there this week — from your local climate, this week's weather and your ecological region.
Also ready in September
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
NutSeptember – OctoberBlack walnut
Juglans nigra
Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.