A rosehip-collecting certificate, curious red pincushions hiding a surprise & everyday magic... Remember collecting rosehips as a child, maybe getting paid or collecting a certificate? Or you enjoyed rosehip syrup? The rosehips look lovely now & there's a curious addition - 'Robin's Pincussion' or wasp gall, growing on the bushes. There are some quirky stories connected to the oak gall too...
The oak gall is so special it even has its own day, was essential to the Magna Carta and American Declaration of Independence, and is a fascinating feat of nature. You can even do a sort-of-magic trick with it. And yet barely any of us even notice they're there...
Everyone knows that apples grow on apple trees, and acorns grow on oak trees. What of oak apples? They're quite a curious growth like a slightly deformed apple on some oak trees. Despite their appearance, they're not fruit at all but a kind of nest created by wasps. The female lays eggs in a new leaf, causing the gall to grow with larvae inside. In around June the wasps hatch, drop to the ground and then inject the tree roots with eggs. Eventually the wingless females climb up the tree to repeat the process. No oak trees are harmed in this process.
So why does this curious sphere have its own day? 29th May is Oak Apple Day, commemorating Charles II's escape from capture by the Parliamentary forces by hiding in the Boscobel Oak in Shropshire. An act of parliament meant this became a public holiday and is still celebrated by some. Chelsea Pensioners attach oak leaves to their scarlet uniforms on Founder's Day (celebrated as close as possible to Oak Apple Day) at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which was founded by Charles II.
Oak apples have played another important role in history. The galls have a high tannin content and they have been used to make ink since Roman times. Documents such as the Magna Carta and American Declaration of Independence were written with oak gall ink.
I mentioned a sort-of-magic trick. If you pick an oak apple at the right time as it's becoming drier and more papery, then put your head back, blow a continuous stream of air and let go of the oak apple, you should be able to keep it in suspended animation in the air by blowing... or so I'm told...
