Did you know that Texas is home to 50 species of oak trees?

Oak trees are quite common throughout the state and thrive in Texas' diverse climates and are found in many regions, from East Texas' piney woods to the hill country and beyond.

In those majestic oak trees, you may find something that looks like an apple, but be warned fellow Texans! Don't eat it! What you have found is called an "oak apple" and there's a whole life forming inside it!

What are oak apples?

Oak apples, sometimes also known as "oak galls", are round, spongy galls that form on oak trees- they may look like apples, but they most definitely are not!  Oak "apples" are typically caused by certain types of wasps, particularly those in the Cynipidae family. When a wasp lays its eggs in the tissue of an oak tree, the tree reacts by growing a gall around the larvae. This gall provides protection and nourishment for the developing wasp larvae inside.

Oak apples can vary in size, ranging from about 1 to 2 inches in diameter, and they often have a reddish-brown or greenish color. Despite their name, oak apples are not edible and are not related to actual apples!

What's more interesting about these galls, you can make ink out of them! Oak galls, particularly those from oak trees, even played an important role in the creation of ink used in historic documents like the U.S. Constitution!