2302 



NUTS 



NUTS 



Euryale ferox. Fox-NuT. GORGON- (Greek meaning terrible) 

 NUT. Nymphxacex. The spiny-covered edible seeds of a handsome, 

 floating water-plant of eastern India. Believed by the Hindoo 

 physicians to possess certain medicinal properties. It has long 

 been cultivated in China and now to a considerable extent is com- 

 mon in the milder portions of the temperate United States. 



Fagus grandifolia. AMERICAN BEECH-NUT. Fagacese. Small 

 triangular seeds which in form and general appearance greatly 

 resemble overgrown seeds of buckwheat. In character of shell and 

 in flavor of kernel, beech-nuts greatly resemble the chestnut. 

 Owing to the tediousness of separating the kernel from the shell, 

 these nuts are not so largely harvested as undoubtedly would 

 otherwise be the case. Figs. 1474-5. 



From the seeds of the European beech (Fagus sylvatica), which 

 also are edible, there is obtained a valuable oil, used as food and in 

 the manufacture of soaps and as an illuminant. 



Fusanus acuminatus (Mida acuminate). QUANDONG- or 

 QuANDANG-Nur. Santalocex. The spherical, yellowish, rather 

 thick-shelled seeds of an edible Australian tree-fruit called the 

 "native peach." Of about the size of marbles. Surface covered 

 with numerous small but deep pits. Kernel single. The fruit is 

 quite edible and is locally used as a preserve. 



Gevuina Avellana. CHILIAN-NUT. CHILE HAZEL. AVELLANO. 

 Proteacex. Fig. 2539. Small seeds of an evergreen tree from Chile. 

 Globular in form, with smooth, tough shell and a kernel much like 

 that of a hazel in both appearance and flavor. Seeds borne within 

 a coral-red fruit. Cultivated to some extent in California. 



Ginkgo biloba. GINKOO-NUT. Ginkgoacex. The oval, creamy 

 white seeds of the ginkgo or maidenhair tree from China and ' 

 Japan, which, to a considerable extent, is a familiar ornamental 

 tree in temperate America. The nuts measure about Jiinch in 

 length, by Jiinch in width, by Hinch in thickness. They have 

 smooth and thin, but stout shells, within which are single green- 

 colored kernels of rather sweetish flavor. When roasted, the 

 kernels are said to be very palatable and are highly prized by the 

 Chinese. At best, however, ginkgo nuts are inferior to most of the 

 nuts on the market and are therefore not popular with the American 

 people. Figs. 1640-42. 



The fruit of the ginkgo considerably resembles that of the native 

 persimmon in color, size and character, but differs from it in that 

 the ginkgo flesh is of a disagreeable odor. 



Guilandina Bonduc. NICKEB. NICKAR. BoNDUc-Nur or BE- 

 ZOAR-NUT. Leguminosx. The blue-gray, irregularly rounded, 

 smooth-surfaced, beautiful seeds of a climbing legume of the tropics. 

 The seeds are somewhat less than an inch in greatest diameter and 

 have very hard shells. They are used as beads and to some extent 

 for medicinal purposes. 



The species has a very wide distribution caused by the seeds 

 being transported by ocean currents; their imperviousness enabling 

 them to be carried by waves for an indefinite length of time. 



Hybrid nuts of the family Juglandacex. Such crosses as the 

 pecan with some other species of hickory; the Persian walnut with 

 some species of black walnut; the eastern American black walnut 

 with one or the other of the California black walnuts are not in- 

 frequently met with in nature. The trees resulting from such 

 crosses are very un-uniform in their character and rate of growth, 

 some being extremely slow to develop and others very rapid, while 

 others range between these extremes. A number of the pecan and 

 hickory crosses have attracted considerable attention, because of 

 their vigor of growth and production, but none of commercial 

 importance has yet come to public attention. Such crosses are 

 known as "hicans." The more rapid-growing of the walnut hybrids 

 are much in use as stocks for cions of the Persian walnut of Cali- 

 fornia. Ordinarily the walnut hybrids bear very light crops and the 

 nuts are of little value. See Juglans. 



Crosses between the eastern and either of the California black 

 walnuts are called Royal and those between any of the black and 

 the Persian walnuts are called Paradox. 



Hyphsene crinita. HYPH^ENE-NUT. DouM-Nur. DoOM-NuT. 

 DOM-NUT. Palmacex. The seeds of a slow-growing African palm. 

 From specimens received at the Office of Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction, Department of Agriculture, it appears that there are at 

 least two quite different types of nuts appearing under this name, 

 both of which have been considerably employed as substitutes for 

 the more expensive ivory-nuts (Phytelephas Seemannii) of South 

 America. Nuts of one of these types are of a light yellowish outer 

 color, irregularly jug-shaped, approximately 2 inches thick by 2% 

 inches long, and covered with a smooth-surfaced fibrous husk J^ 

 inch thick. Nuts of the other type are somewhat larger, less regular 

 in form, and of a buff-color, but haying much the same sort of outer 

 husk and inner characters. The thick wall of pure white, hard flesh 

 within the woody shell of each is used in the making of buttons, but 

 reports from American and German manufacturers are to the 

 effect that buttons of this material are much inclined to warp and 

 shrivel. 



Inocarpus edulis. TAHITIAN, SOUTH SEA, FIJI, POLYNESIAN, or 

 OTAHEITE CHESTNUT. Leguminosx. The seed of a tree native to 

 the South Sea and neighboring islands. Borne singly in flat, fibrous 

 pods, having a smooth outer surface. They are thin and somewhat 

 wedge-shaped. Typical specimens measure approximately 2 by 1 % 

 by % inches. When prepared by roasting or boiling, these nuts are 

 said to have a chestnut-like flavor. 



Jatropha Curcas. PHYSIC-NUT. FRENCH PHYSIC-NUT. BAR- 

 BADOS-NUT. PuHGiNG-NuT. Euphorbiacex. Small, oblong, rounded 

 seeds of about % inch long, -^ inch wide, by % inch thick, of a 

 slatish color, and having a thin strong shell, of a shrubby, tropical 

 American tree. From the kernel, which is white and solid, there is 

 obtained a strong purgative oil (curcas oil) which is also used for 



illuminating purposes. To some extent, this tree is grown in the 

 warmer parts of the United States, but probably only as an orna- 

 mental. 



Jubaea spectabilis. COQUITA-NUT. JuBA-Nur. COKER-NUT. 

 DWARF COCONUT. MONKEY'S COCONUTS. Palmacex. Small 

 globular nuts 1 inch or less in diameter, having a smooth-surfaced, 

 rather thick and very hard shell, within which is a flesh and open 

 center much like that of the common coconut. The seeds of the 

 wine palm of Chile. Consul Clement S. Edwards, in the "Daily 

 Consular and Trade Reports," says: that "Coquito-nuts (little 

 coconuts) are found in this region (Mexico), but the entire amount 

 gathered is taken by the local soap manufacturies, the managers of 

 which are constantly complaining that they cannot procure suffi- 

 cient material from this (Acapulco) neighborhood for their needs." 



Juglans spp. WALNUT. BUTTERNUT. Juglandacex. The nuts of 

 a very important group of trees, representative species of which 

 are found in many parts of the world, usually in the temperate 

 zones. To this group, which is closely related to that of the hick- 

 ories, belongs the well-known Persian, or more commonly called 

 "English" walnut, the California product of which alone is annually 

 worth more than double that of any other nut now grown in this 

 country. 



As with nuts of the hickory species, the walnuts vary greatly in 

 size, form, thickness of shell, and, except in abnormal cases, which 



2540. Great nut of a lecythis, or monkey-pot. ( X H) 



are very rare, the kernels are formed in two distinct halves, or 

 cotyledons. The kernels of both are rich in valuable oils, which 

 doubtless eventually will come into general use in the making of 

 salads and for other purposes of cooking, but which are now used 

 mainly in arts and paints, and as illuminants or lubricants. In 

 color, the walnuts range from the light yellow or orange of the Per- 

 sian walnut to the dark brown or black, of the black walnut. With 

 the exception of the butternut, or the "white walnut," as it is 

 quite largely known, which is fairly cylindrical, and about one- 

 third longer than thick, and which has a rough sharp-pointed sur- 

 face, the several species of American walnuts and a number of the 

 foreign walnuts, are spherical or spheroidal in general form. 



The usual difficulty with which the kernels are separated from 

 the thick shells of the common butternut and black walnuts has 

 prevented the nuts of either species from becoming generally popular 

 on the market. Horticulturally speaking, there are now no recog- 

 nized varieties of butternuts and but very few of black walnuts. 



The list which follows includes practically all of the better known 

 species of walnuts with their common names. For fuller accounts 

 of each species, see Volume III: J. australis, Australian black wal- 

 nut; J. boliviensis, Bolivian black walnut; J. calif ornica, California 

 black walnut (southern type); J. Sieboldiana var. cordiformis, 

 Japanese walnut, heart-nut; J. cinerea, butternut, white walnut; J. 

 Hindsii, California black walnut (northern type) ; J. major, Arizona 

 black walnut; J. mandshurica, Japanese walnut, Manchurian 

 walnut; J. nigra, American black or eastern black walnut; J. regia, 

 Persian, English, Royal, Italian, Madeira, European, French, 

 Chile, Caucasian, Manchurian, Circassian walnut; J. rupestris, 

 Texas walnut, New Mexico walnut; J. Sieboldiana, Japanese 

 walnut. Figs. 2011-2019. 



Lecythis spp. SAPUCAIA- or SAPUCAYA-NUT. PARADISE-NUT. 

 MONKEY-POT-NUT. Myrtacex. Fig. 2540. An oblong, irregularly 

 shaped, though somewhat triangular nut, with irregular, longitudinal 

 grooves over its whole surface, and having a rather thick, cork-like 

 shell, which may be easily cut, and a single solid kernel, which 

 considerably resembles that of the Brazil-nut (Bertholletia excelsa) 

 to which it is closely related, but than which it is of much finer 

 texture and of more delicate, pleasing flavor. 



A quart or more of these nuts are borne in a heavily walled 

 capsule of urn-shape, measuring from 6 to 8 inches in diameter at 

 the middle, in the top of which is a perfectly fitting lid, from 2 to 



