Oak Apples

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An oak apple is a mutation of an oak leaf caused by the chemicals injected by the larvae of certain kinds of gall wasp. The reason for the name „oak apple“ is the fact that the gal ls, which can measure up to five centimetres in diameter (though their diameter is usually around two centimeters), look similar to apples. The variety of oak apples mainly used are excrescences growing on the leaves of the small oak Quercus infectoria, indigenous to Asia Minor and Southern Europe. The best quality Aleppo galls collected in Turkey, known as „blue“ or „green galls“, are hard and heavy and of dark bluish-green or olive green color. They contain up to 70 % of gallotannic acid. If collected after the insects have escaped, the galls are of pale, yellowish-brown color, spongy and lighter in weight. These so-called „white galls“ contain less gallotonic acid than the blue and green galls. Oak apples are mostly used in dyeing and tanning as well as for the production of ink. Show more