FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
QUERCUS ILEX, BALLOTA, BELLOOT or BELOTE OAK, HOLLY OAK
Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is a plant of the Mediterranean region and the Orient. From varieties of this tree, says Mueller, are obtained the sweet andnourishing ballota and chestnut acorns. Figuier says this species is common int he south of France, and that the acorns are sweet and eatable. Brandis says the acorns form an important article of food in Spain and Algeria. the acorns are eaten in Barbary, spain and Portugal under the name of belote. In Arabia, also, they are eaten cooked, and an oil is extracted from them. In Palestine, they are sold in all the bazaars.
