question about 'walnut' tree. edible?
 

i'm not sure if it's a walnut tree or not, but in the forest preserves
there are these fruits that fall off trees that look and kinda smell
like lime.

if you crack it open, it's all dark and musty inside. if you wash away
the dark stuff, there's a seed or nut. if you crack it open, it looks
kinda like walnut flesh.

is this a walnut or related to walnuts? can it be eaten?

if it is edible, must it be cooked?

wrote:
i'm not sure if it's a walnut tree or not, but in the forest preserves
there are these fruits that fall off trees that look and kinda smell
like lime.

if you crack it open, it's all dark and musty inside. if you wash away
the dark stuff, there's a seed or nut. if you crack it open, it looks
kinda like walnut flesh.

is this a walnut or related to walnuts? can it be eaten?

if it is edible, must it be cooked?

Sounds like walnut or maybe butternut. They're ripe when you press on
the hull and your finger leaves an impression. They have to be hulled
and then cured for 2 or 3 weeks.
Messy job hulling walnuts and the juice will leave a dark stain on
your hands that lasts for days. After you get the hull off hose down
the shelled nuts to get them clean. Test them in a bucket of water, if
the sink keep them. If they float get rid of them.
Stack them 2 deep on some kind of tray in the sun for 2 or 3 weeks
to cure them.

DrLith wrote in
:

wrote:
i'm not sure if it's a walnut tree or not, but in the
forest preserves there are these fruits that fall off
trees that look and kinda smell like lime.

if you crack it open, it's all dark and musty inside. if
you wash away the dark stuff, there's a seed or nut. if
you crack it open, it looks kinda like walnut flesh.

is this a walnut or related to walnuts? can it be eaten?

if it is edible, must it be cooked?


If you're in the US, it's probably a black walnut, though
possibly butternut, which is a closely related species.
Butternuts are slightly more elongated, while black walnuts
are , which is a native tree. Black walnuts are edible and
do not need to be cooked, although they're (a) harder to
shell and yield less than English walnuts; (b) have a more
bitter taste; and (c) can stain your hands.

butternut hulls are sticky, smaller & more oval than black
walnuts. both are native trees, although the butternut is
severely endangered by blight. i've lost all my butternut
trees. the black walnuts are apparently immune to the blight.
since the OP says the nuts are about the size & shape of a
lime, i'd bet they're black walnuts.
lee
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