I have a lot of Oak trees on my land. Only one of the trees produces acorns and they are tiny acorns. All the other trees, many are mature, have no acorns at all. I am curious if these Oaks are a special variety that does not produce acorns. Since they don't have acorns, how do they reproduce?

Hi Gail:

Well, there could be several logical reasons for this phenomenon, so let me try to briefly explain a few potential scenarios:

1) Environmental conditions, such as heavy spring rains, growing season flood events, drought, and unusually high/low temperatures, can cause poor acorn pollination, acorn crop abortion, and complete acorn crop failures.

2) Early season frosts can severely damage oak flowers resulting in poor pollination success.

3) Some oak trees are genetically poor producers of acorns – absolutely nothing you can do.

4) Acorn production dramatically decreases when oaks reach a certain age and/or a certain diameter.

5) If your oak is in the red oak family, then you can typically expect heavier acorn crops every 3-5 years.

6) If your oak is in the white oak family, then you can typically expect heavier acorn crops every 4-7 years.

7) Pests or pathogens, confounded by weather-related phenomena, may also be responsible.

8) Past management or land-use history

Unfortunately, I cannot provide you a more definitive answer; however, I'm pretty confident that one (or a combination) of these factors has ultimately caused the lack of acorn production in your area(s).

Thank you for the information you provided about oak trees and lack of acorns.

Visually looking at the mature Oak trees (of which I have a dozen of), how can I determine if they are red oak or white oak?

Compare the bark, twigs, fruit, and leaves of your oak trees to Tree ID Field Guides and Internet resources to assist you in keying out your oak trees.

Oaks in the "red oak family" will have bristle-tipped lobes on their leaves. Oaks in the "white oak family" will not have bristle-tipped lobes.

We have a white oak in the side yard that was planted as a sapling in the 1960s. It gave us ,and the squirrels & raccoons,many pounds of acorns for 7 years. This year there were none. We had an extreme drought 2 years ago here in north Indiana and a late freeze last Spring. I believe these are the reasons our tree won't bear acorns. Thanks for your explanations.