Black Oak
Quercus kelloggii - Black Oak
Mary Gordon – Community (n.d. 90-91)
Collection - Oaks
Data categories
Scientific Name - Quercus kelloggii
Common Name - Black Oak, Kellogg Oak
Family - Fagaceae
Description, Habitat and Range
Black Oak is a deciduous tree that grows thirty to eighty-five feet high on mountain slopes and ridges between 1,000 to 8,000'. Covered with smooth dark bark, the thick trunk forms a ridged or checked pattern with age. Pointed, deeply lobed leaves are rosy-red in spring and golden-orange in fall. Sitting deep in the cup, the acorn is a somewhat squat one to one and one-half inch oblong. A mature acorn is a striped cream-colored kernel covered with papery red skin that must be removed before the acorn is ground for eating. Acorns mature the second season. Black Oaks can produce 200 to 300 pounds of acorns per year. Large crops are regular, producing more than one good crop in a two year period. Citations: Hickman 1993:662; Pavlik et al. 1991:14-15, 102; Strike 1994:125, Wilson 1983:B 21.
Linguistic Terminology
Gavin 1992:4 (o’isun) Wukchumni. Gayton 1948:224 (wi’’upa) Michahai/Wuksatchi. Henshaw 1888:127 (tsu-blu-kud) Tulareno. Kroeber 1963:211 (ocun) Yawdanchi; (esan) Tulamni; (usa’n) Hometwoli; (isen) Pawelmani; (ecin) Tachi; (esin) Chunut; (?e.sin) Yawelmani. Latta MS (o-uh-shun) no informant identified; (o’-uh-shun) Wukchumni; (wee’-ahp) Wuksatchi. Merriam 1902:14, 1979:146, 148, 150, 155, 158, 161 (a-shin) Choinimni, Gashow; (sow-wa, sow’-wah) Chukchansi; (e’-sen-ne) Pawelmani; (yu-a’-sin) Yawdanchi; (a’-shin) Wukchumni. Powers 1976:429 (e’-sin) Tule Indian Reservation. Wilson 1983:B 13 (sa-hop) Chukchansi/Monache.
Food
Yokuts harvested the acorns when they were slightly green. They preferred these acorns because they were sweet, oily, and stored well. In addition, the white meal thickens to a good consistency. One disadvantage is that a papery covering or pericarp sticks to the nutmeat which contains tannins and must be removed or the meal will be bitter. People used the same wooden hooks to harvest piñons, yucca and acorns. Citations: Gayton 1948:77, 178, 222; Goldberg and Theodoratus 1985:56, 31456; Powers 1976:429; Wilson 1985:B 21.
Other
Black Oak was the preferred firewood for parching seeds and nuts because it burned long and slowly without a flame. Wood was used to make portable mortars. Acorns were strung into necklaces for personal adornment. Acorns were made into dice, tops, and buzzers. Citations: Balls 1962:14; Davis and Miller 1989:28-30; Driver 1937:71, 83, 84; Merriam 1967:425; Rogers and Newman 1944:194).