Seeds of discovery

I was tidying up the yard the other day. Branches had blown off some trees and scattered all over. Usually these branches are dead, but this one still had leaves on it. I started cutting it up into smaller pieces.

My mind was miles away. I was thinking about whether or not to get some planting in before lunch, when I noticed these tiny bumps on the branches.

Those are funny-looking lumps, I wonder if the tree is sick....
Wait a minute, those funny-looking lumps look like.... baby acorns! This tree isn't sick....it's pregnant!
Here's a closer look.



So that's how acorns are made! As you can see, there are lots and lots of teeny, tiny acorns on each branch. The oak leaves (they look wilted in the pic) are on the tips of the branches. They must reach up towards the sunlight for nourishment to feed their babies. Or to protect them from the strong rays of the sun.

We have plenty of oak trees in our yard and that means an abundance of acorns. They don't show up until late summer or early fall. But at this time of year, I don't give them a thought. Anyway, the trees are so high, I've never had the opportunity to observe baby acorns in the making.

I was thrilled with this discovery, so I shared it with Hubby. Don't know why we've never noticed this before.