Fagaceae Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hook. & Arn.) Rehd.

Tanoak

Karok - Food, Staple

Use documented by:
Baker, Marc A., 1981, The Ethnobotany of the Yurok, Tolowa and Karok Indians of Northwest California, Humboldt State University, M.A. Thesis, page 35

View all documented uses for Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hook. & Arn.) Rehd.

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Scientific name: Lithocarpus densiflorus (Hook. & Arn.) Rehd.
USDA symbol: LIDED2 (View details at USDA PLANTS site)
Common names: Tanoak
Family: Fagaceae
Family (APG): Fagaceae
Native American Tribe: Karok
Use category: Food
Use sub-category: Staple
Notes: Acorns considered the main staple. People would camp in groves when harvesting the fruit. Certain villages had certain fruit crops. Fruits were gathered after they had fallen from the trees, but before insects invaded them. While younger men hunted, the remainder of the people played games centered around removing the shells from the seed. When the seeds were ground, a basket with a hole in the bottom large enough to include the stone mortar was placed over the mortar to keep the acorn flour in place. It was then leached in sand with cold water. The finished flour was mixed with water to make a paste which could be cooked in several ways. A gruel was most often made by cooking the paste in cooking baskets. Hot rocks were placed into the paste to bring it to boiling. The rocks were kept from burning the basket with 'acorn paddles.' The rocks were placed in and out of the gruel with twigs bent into a U-shape. Males ate gruel with wooden spoons, the females used mussel shells. The cake of acorn meal that formed around the hot rocks was given to children as sort of a treat. Gruel was flavored with venison, herbs, etc. The paste was occasionally baked as patties in hot coals. Flour was stored in large storage baskets.

RECRD: 5894 id: 20507

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