Cool! But oh, my brain is hurting from all the new species I’m trying to stuff in there!
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That first observation reminded me of this leaf gall: Spined Turban Gall (Cynips douglasii). It looks like it would taste like candy, even though I know better.
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You should test that. In the name of science!
Here’s one that actually DOES taste like sugar: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/155373-Glycaspis-brimblecombei
The little cone-shaped houses they build are sweet. If you can find ones without mold, and don’t mind eating a few bugs.
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With it being an oak gall, I assumed it would be very woody, tannic, and astringent so I didn’t think to try it. Maybe if I see more and in abundance, I’ll try another time?
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Just remembered I still had one sitting on my desk from a photo session the other day, so I ate it.
Your hypothesis is correct, it was vile.
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Oh no! As described or worse? Maybe it deserves a full sommelier description of flavor… for science?
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Let’s see…
A leafy aroma, reminiscent of forest breezes. The flavor starts slowly, mainly because it takes a minute to chew through the crunchy outer layer, before flowering into overwhelming bitterness, with strong notes of sawdust and tannin. A hint of weird mustiness and a certain je ne sais quoi … dead bugs, perhaps?
The finish is a lingering astringent taste. Very lingering - I’ve rinsed my mouth out twice and I can still taste it :P
Verdict: It’s actually worse than chewing raw acorns or oak leaves. Perhaps the galls concentrate the tannins as a defensive tactic?
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And even though it feeds on Eucalyptus, you don’t have to go to Australia to see it.
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“It looks like candy!”…
That looks like a chewed bubble gum. 
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Thought exactly the same.
Nah, it doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.
EVEN WORSE??!!!
@graysquirrel That’s the BEST sommelier I’ve ever heard or read.
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acorns would be famine food
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Yes I know that, but we are talking about raw acorns. Who hasn’t bitten a raw acorn just for curiosity? It’s not a very pleasant experience.
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Maybe not a commercially viable food, but not sure if it’s fair to call it a famine good. It has some significant historical uses. A good overview of how to process acorn’s for food can be found here, the author spends 20-30 pages on how to process acorns into food, if I remember correctly. It’s a very involved process!
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Yeah I agree with you, they are more than a famine food, in fact they were the base of the diet of some ancient cultures.
What?? I thought you should only shell them and leach them, although shelling them isn’t that easy…
Noooo it’s a book on sale! 
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Maybe it’s available at a local library? That’s where I found the copy I read.
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I heard you can roast them and they taste actually good.
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Here in my city there isn’t a lot of libraries and they are too far away from were I live and anyway, I live in a different country so don’t think I’ll ever find that book.
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Our oaks are a colonial reminder - but my link says people did, eat them. Today it would be seen as famine food?
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