# Are any nuts actually nuts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441 "2007-12-18T07:14:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/1 "2007-12-18T07:14:21Z")
While watching Good Eats, ol’ AB mentioned that pecans aren’t actually nuts, but are “drupes,” as are walnuts and probably other things we call nuts. And of course, we all know that a peanut isn’t a nut, it’s a legume. So of the things we commonly call nuts, which ones are actually botanically/taxonomically considered “nuts?” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/2 "2007-12-18T07:30:07Z")
Hazelnuts and chestnuts. Filberts. Depending on who you talk to, walnuts and pecans (which is why, to split the difference, they get called drupaceous nuts). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/3 "2007-12-18T11:09:15Z")
Aren’t hazelnuts and filberts the same nut? They taste the same and their bushes are indistinguishable to my untutored eye. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/4 "2007-12-18T11:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] Aren’t hazelnuts and filberts the same nut? They taste the same and their bushes are indistinguishable to my untutored eye. [/QUOTE] They’re a different species (Corylus maxima) - ordinary hazelnuts are Corylus avellana (European Hazel), or Corylus americana (American hazel). They are very similar. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/5 "2007-12-18T12:20:21Z")
Of course (to further the hijack) Pecans are simply the American version of Walnuts and can be used fairly well interchangably in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/6 "2007-12-18T12:47:58Z")
Donuts… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/7 "2007-12-18T13:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Of course (to further the hijack) Pecans are simply the American version of Walnuts and can be used fairly well interchangably in a pinch. [/QUOTE] Um, no. [Wikipedia: pecan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan) It’s a type of hickory tree. [Wikipedia: walnut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut) They are from the same family, but are decidedly distinct genera. Much different flavors, too. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/8 "2007-12-18T13:28:22Z")
I think the technical term is actually “testes”. ---
**Author:** ![Barrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Barrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/9 "2007-12-18T14:28:48Z")
OK, so what about nut allergies? It hadn’t occurred to me before, but the old packaging howler “PEANUTS (Warning: may contain nuts)” makes more sense when you consider that peanuts are not nuts. And yet people with nut allergies are also allergic to peanuts, no? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/10 "2007-12-18T14:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Pecans are simply the American version of Walnuts… [/QUOTE] There are various walnut species including at least a couple native to North America: Black walnut (_juglans nigra_) and Butternut (_juglans cinerea_). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/11 "2007-12-18T15:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=Barrington] And yet people with nut allergies are also allergic to peanuts, no? Why? [/QUOTE] Not always. I have one nephew who is allergic to both peanuts and tree nuts, and another who is allergic to peanuts and soy protein, but not tree nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/12 "2007-12-18T15:45:27Z")
(I am shamed.) (But not nuts.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/13 "2007-12-18T15:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > (I am shamed.) > > (But not nuts.) Sometimes you feel like a nut Sometimes you don’t (No, i don’t think advertising has a cumulative effect. Why do you ask?) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/14 "2007-12-18T15:56:23Z")
I don’t think it’s particularly wrong to think of pecans and walnuts as the same kind of thing - as long as it’s not in a botanical context or anything. They’re not exactly the same, but they’re undeniably somewhat similar. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/15 "2007-12-18T16:02:24Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] I think the technical term is actually “testes”. [/QUOTE] Ah, the much loved “Dese Nuts” ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/16 "2007-12-18T17:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I don’t think it’s particularly wrong to think of pecans and walnuts as the same kind of thing - as long as it’s not in a botanical context or anything. They’re not exactly the same, but they’re undeniably somewhat similar. [/QUOTE] Well, only true if you consider a cow the same as an impala, for example. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/17 "2007-12-18T17:45:03Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think it’s particularly wrong to think of pecans and walnuts as the same kind of thing - as long as it’s not in a botanical context or anything. They’re not exactly the same, but they’re undeniably somewhat similar. Yeah, _you_ say that. But you’ll eat _anything_. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/18 "2007-12-18T17:45:10Z")
What do you call nuts on the wall? Wallnuts. What do you call nuts on your chest? Chestnuts What do you call nuts on your chin? A dick in your mouth. I crack me up. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/19 "2007-12-18T19:07:42Z")
I have a coworker who is allergic to tree nuts, but not peanuts, which (I guess) is somewhat unusual. What, botanically speaking, are pine nuts? I once had a friend allergic to those. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441/20 "2007-12-18T19:58:10Z")
[QUOTE=Skammer] What, botanically speaking, are pine nuts? I once had a friend allergic to those. [/QUOTE] [Pine nuts.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nuts) I felt I needed to be helpful after posting a joke in a GQ thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-nuts-actually-nuts/430441.md?page=2)