Acorn Caps
Quercus
Acorns are a wonder food of the forest. Oaks are a very important "mast" (aka fruit) producing tree, meaning they provide food for lots of forest critters. So we leave the food part behind, and only collect the discarded caps for our ink-making.
There is still plenty of pigment to be found in a slow-cooked acorn cap. The cooking process itself creates the earthy aroma of a rich forest floor. Cooking down to a lovely brown colour, it's the perfect shade if you would like to, say, paint an acorn out of acorns!
