Main Plant:

    Members of the fagaceae family are either trees or shrubs. The plants are often monoecious (male and female flowers on the same plant) but in some rare cases can be dioeciuos (male plants and female plants).  They are deciduous plants so that their leaves are shed during the process of autumnal senescence. The leaves are bifacial and range in shape from simple undivided to divided (Simpson, 2006).

Flower:

Male: P 6[4-9] A 6-12 [4-90]

Female: P 6 [4-9] G (3-6) [(2,7-12)], inferior ovary

Flowers are unisexual and symmetrical surrounded by numerous bracts. In the case of oak the bracts fuse to create the acorn cap or involucral cup. The flowers are arranged in unisexual inflorescences where the male flowers aggregated in a catkin or head and the female flowers are either located at the base of the male inflorescence or in some case are solitary flowers.  These species are mostly wind pollinated, however, in the case of chestnuts insects are the primary pollinator (Simpson, 2006).

Fruit:

          The ovary in the female plant is inferior. All members of this family produce a nut, which is also called a glan. This forms a hard pericarp and contains nutritious oils. The subtending bracts of the flower also protect the seed (Simpson, 2006). The seeds lack endosperm.