Chestnut oaks on steep slopes

 The acorns of chestnut oaks look like chestnuts. I had to look twice when I thought I saw chestnuts on the ground, albeit without the hulls.

Quercus montana is not found in Texas so it’s new to me. People say it’s a ridgetop tree, and I could see why.

The acorns are round and big: if you played marbles as a kid, you’d call these taws or shooters. The slopes on the mountains of North Georgia are steep, and these big round acorns roll. I found several in fissures. They had “planted” themselves about as snugly as a farmer could have done it.

I’m not sure that’s the story I’ll find when I check the scholarly papers. But it seems like an evolutionary advantage to me.

I found Quercus montana in bunches on the steep slopes around Amicalola Falls.

Among the October blooms:

• Lobelias, with lovely tubular flowers. The ones I saw were lavender. I know they are in genus Lobelia — the trumpet flowers had five lobes, but I’d be guessing on the species. 

• Common jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, with deep orange flowers.

• Turtleheads, in genus Chelone. The common name comes from the flower’s shape. You can imagine a turtle sticking its head out of its shell. The common species in Georgia, C. glabra, is white. The flowers I saw were purple-pink-magenta and white.