Island trees are going nuts for fall

One need not walk very far right now to find oneself knee-deep in nuts.

 

Daniel Island’s pecan, oak, hickory, sweet gum, cypress, and other tree varieties are, once again, covering our yards, trails, sidewalks, and green spaces with their seeds.

 

In some areas, the acorns and their shells are so thick that it sounds like people are walking or riding over thousands of potato chips as they pass by.

 

This year appears to be a mast year. Mast refers to the nuts, seeds, buds, etc. produced by trees and shrubs.

 

Levels of mast production are cyclical, and every two to five years, for reasons still debated by arborists, biology professors, and foresters, there is a highly productive year. That is a mast year, and 2024 looks like a really robust one in our area.

 

Many animals depend heavily on the nuts and seeds our trees produce.

 

Squirrels, deer, birds, and many other creatures all rely on what’s dropping to the ground this time of year. The squirrels can even be seen scurrying about, burying a portion of their acorns for future use.

 

Some of the nuts are enjoyed by people as well, and my family has eaten plenty of delicious pecans from trees right here on our island.

 

Other nuts, like acorns and several varieties of hickory nuts, can also safely be eaten. This doesn’t mean, however, that they taste good or that one will enjoy them. (See “At the root of it all,” The Daniel Island News, May 30 – June 5, 2019, for this writer’s unsavory experience eating acorns.)

 

And while some hickory nuts are edible, others are not. Please be sure of the identity of what is in your hand before you put it in your mouth. It is interesting to note that, while they are typically thought of separately, the pecan tree is actually just one variety of hickory.

 

Sweet gum balls and cypress balls, or cones, are sometimes used for decorations, but they are not edible. They are commercially available at various internet craft sites.

 

Each of them, however, does contain many small seeds that are consumed by birds and other wildlife.

 

This writer carelessly forgot about the hundreds of seeds in the prickly sweet gum balls he had gathered for the attached photos. They made quite a mess in the back of his truck when he pulled them out of his pockets!

 

Whether eating them, watching wildlife enjoy them, or using them in decorative crafts, the many varieties of nuts falling on Daniel Island this fall are worth noticing.

 

They are a critical food source for much of our wildlife, and they are the seeds from which the future trees in our yards, wooded areas, and forests will come.