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Editor's Picks

Single stem bleed
Steve Potter reviews decline diseases affecting oaks in the...
Steve Potter | Feb 12, 2025
Oak Origins by Andrew Hipp
A review of Andrew Hipp's new book
Steve Potter | Feb 12, 2025
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Allen Coombes shares observations of unexpected phenology...
Allen Coombes | Jan 14, 2025

Plant Focus

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Quercus ×ludoviciana is a naturally occurring oak hybrid from southeastern United States, which has flourished and attracted attention in...

oak music

Saving Threatened Plants… with Music!

Tana Silverland listening to an acorn

A project to raise funds to conserve oaks by recording the music they make.

Whistling with an Acorn Cap

Acorn cap whistler in Extremadura

We all know the best you can do with an acorn (turn it into an oak), but what can we do with a cupule? One answer is: whistle! It is a good skill to learn. If you are ever lost in the woods, you can use it to emit a shrill call for help or to whistle a happy tune so that no one knows you are afraid. In some regions of the world there seems to have been a long tradition of acorn-cap whistling, particularly among Spanish goatherds. In Mexico, too, children are known to use acorns for whistling.