No, walnuts are not nuts. Not really.

—Michael Penziner, FRNC Docent

Neither are almonds, pistachios, pecans, peanuts nor Brazil nuts. At least, they aren't nuts botanically, although in the culinary sense we call them nuts. We recently told you that roses didn't have thorns, so this is another contradiction to startle you. Actually walnuts are the seeds of a drupe as are the almonds, pistachios and pecans, while the Brazil nut is identified as the seed of a capsule and the peanut is a legume. Well, now that you know that, you need to know the definition of a nut, a drupe, a capsule and a legume.

So that you understand the differences, we have to get technical here. The definition in Wikipedia of a nut such as the hazelnut, chestnut, and acorn (yes, an acorn is a nut) is a simple dry fruit with one seed in which the ovary wall becomes increasingly hard as it matures, and where the seed remains unattached within the ovary wall. A drupe, or stone fruit, has an outer fleshy part surrounding a shell which has a seed inside, and the seed inside is what we eat. A capsule is a simple dry fruit composed of two or more parts within the fruit. When that capsule splits apart, the seeds it releases are what we refer to as nuts. And lastly, a legume is a type of plant with seeds that grow in long cases, such as peas and beans.

Walnut drupe opening. Image: Grondin

Now none of that confusing stuff has anything to do with eating the nuts. What you might want to know, however, is that pistachios and cashews are members of the same family as poison ivy and poison sumac (OK, don't panic, the processing neutralizes or removes all of that nasty stuff.) Almonds are members of the rose family (and contain just a wee bit of cyanide, but not enough to hurt you), as is the peach. The Brazil nut family is distantly connected to blueberries and persimmons among many others. Peanuts and peas grow the same way and we eat both of them.

We're not exactly sure what all the above information does for you, but we thought it would be fun to tell you about it.