Nut

Hazelnuts from the Common Hazel

Chestnut

An indehiscent 1-celled and 1-seeded hard and bony fruit, even if resulting from a compound ovary.^CH Common usage however expands what are considered nuts beyond true nuts.

True nuts

Order Fagales

• Family Juglandaceae
  • Walnut
  • Butternut (Juglans)
  • Hickory, Pecan (Carya)
  • Wingnut (Pterocarya)
• Family Fagaceae
  • Chestnut (Castanea)
  • Beech (Fagus)
  • Oak (Quercus)
  • Stone-oak, Tanoak (Lithocarpus)
• Family Betulaceae
  • Alder (Alnus)
  • Birch (Betula)
  • Hazel, Filbert (Corylus)
  • Hornbeam

Common use nuts

These are often called or considered nuts, though they don't meet the strict botanical definition.

Korean Pine pine nuts — unshelled, and shell, above; shelled, below

Some fruits and seeds that are nuts in the culinary sense but not in the botanical sense:

• Almond is the edible seed of a drupe — the leathery "flesh" is removed at harvest.
• Brazil nut is the seed from a capsule.
• Candlenut (used for oil) is a seed.
• Cashew nut is a seed.
• Coconut is a dry, fibrous drupe.
• Horse-chestnut is an inedible capsule.
• Macadamia nut is a creamy white kernel (Macadamia integrifolia).
• Peanut is a legume and a seed.
• Pine nut is the seed of several species of pine (coniferous trees).
• Pistachio nut is the seed of a thin-shelled drupe.

Read about Nut in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Nuts. In popular usage a nut is a hard vegetable product, usually a fruit, inclosing an edible part within a shell; and the edible kernel or meat is released by breaking the integument. Technically or botanically, a nut is a hard and indehiscent one-seeded pericarp arising from a compound ovary; but it is hardly to be expected that this very special use can prevail as against the long-established popular usage. In this article, the word nut is understood in its popular or usual application; it may be difficult to define, but it is readily understood. The purpose of this catalogue, by C. A. Reed, is to name and describe all the nuts that are likely to be found in commerce in this country or which may be subjects of rather common inquiry. Not all of these nuts are grown or cultivated in this country and therefore some of the genera may not be found elsewhere in the Cyclopedia; that is to say, this is not a cultural article but only descriptive and is independent of any alphabetical entries elsewhere in the work. For the cultivation of nuts as practised in North America, see the article Nut-culture. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

See also

• List of edible seeds

This article contains a definition from the Glossary of Gardening Terms.