Chinquapin

Several years ago, in one of my very first posts (my third to be exact), I told how my granddaddy brought paw paws and chinquapins from the woods for my Gran to eat.

I remember the paw paws from my own childhood, but until last weekend, I had only the Internet to show me what a chinquapin looked like.

I was hiking with a friend in the American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County, Maryland. I may or may not have been showing off my nature knowledge when my friend pointed to a prickly sphere on the ground.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I've no idea." I gingerly picked up the object and swore. The spines were very sharp.

"I think it might be a chinquapin!" I said, getting excited.
(I get excited over such things and not just because it gives me blog material. I've been told on numerous occasions that I'm a big geek.)

A little Internet research indicates I'm probably right, but I'll confirm with Gran tonight.

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Suggested reading:

"How to Manage and Identify Chinkapin," About.com Forestry
http://forestry.about.com/od/silviculture/p/chinkapin.htm