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Is this fruit edible, please?

(116 Posts)
oldgoat Wed 26-Aug-20 10:41:40

I really enjoy making preserves from foraged fruit. Can anybody, please, tell me the name of this fruit which is growing wild nearby, and is it edible? It has a rough surface and the leaves look a bit like a chestnut.

SueDonim Thu 27-Aug-20 14:09:18

What an intriguing thread! smile

I love your wooden ruler, too, Oldgoat. ❤️ It reminded me of a dream I had recently, in which I had an elasticated measuring tape. It was marvellous for measuring my vital statistics. grin

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 15:19:51

It's definitely an alien egg.
I can see a little embryo in there.
Beware, * oldgoat* ?‍♀️

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 15:23:37

It's a conker, I think. Unripe.
They are horse chestnut leaves

Farmor15 Thu 27-Aug-20 15:32:29

Agree with Calistemon - unripe horse chestnut. I thought walnut previously but I have walnut tree (not old enough for nuts) and leaves are arranged differently.

EllanVannin Thu 27-Aug-20 15:32:29

Whatever it is it's not ripe but I wouldn't be sampling it.

Marmight Thu 27-Aug-20 18:57:13

My on line ‘Guru’ suggests walnut

MaizieD Thu 27-Aug-20 19:50:50

It's NOT a walnut.

I grew up with a walnut tree. Leaves are nothing like that! Nor is the fruit.

So far, having seen the new photos, horse chestnut seems nearest, but I'm still suspicious... grin

Oopsadaisy4 Thu 27-Aug-20 19:59:48

The leaves look like Beech leaves, is the fruit hard like a shell or soft?

My Walnuts are green, I’ll grab one tomorrow and cut it in half and see what it looks like inside. They are almost ripe and I don’t think they will look like the one in the picture.( they don’t normally)

Marydoll Thu 27-Aug-20 20:18:44

I used an app on my phone to take a screenshot and it came up with Davidia involucrata.

Does it look anything like this?

Oopsadaisy4 Thu 27-Aug-20 20:22:44

I think it does

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 22:31:47

The leaves are different.

It's a conker!

Oopsadaisy4 Thu 27-Aug-20 22:33:39

No spikes on it though, is it a Health and Safety Aware smooth Conker?

BlueBelle Thu 27-Aug-20 22:52:55

Oh well we ve got as many answers as people nearly all you can really do is wait for it to ripen and then have another cut through

Marydoll Thu 27-Aug-20 22:56:39

Old Goat, you could install a free app on your phone, which identifies plants.
That would put us all out of our misery.?

Kalu Thu 27-Aug-20 23:05:39

100% sure it is a horse chestnut. Great conkers inside.

NanTheWiser Thu 27-Aug-20 23:13:02

Also agree it’s horse chestnut.

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 23:17:53

Is it a Buckeye tree?
Similar to a horse chestnut but the casings of the nuts are ore yellow brown. The leaves are like a horse chestnut, palmate with a spread of five leaves.

They are poisonous.

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 23:18:53

More yellow-brown, not green like a horse chestnut.

MaizieD Thu 27-Aug-20 23:21:13

Callistemon

Is it a Buckeye tree?
Similar to a horse chestnut but the casings of the nuts are ore yellow brown. The leaves are like a horse chestnut, palmate with a spread of five leaves.

They are poisonous.

Oh gosh, Callistomen! For some weird reason that has made me laugh.

I do hope we get a firm identification soon...

Nannytopsy Thu 27-Aug-20 23:22:00

Not a walnut - I have a tree here and now!

Callistemon Thu 27-Aug-20 23:28:39

I'm laughing too but don't know why!

It's poisonous oldgoat!
If it is thst.

It's not beech, they are smaller. We had a beech tree in the grounds of our school and we used to eat the beech nuts. They're mildly toxic, but I remember we thought we could get out of lessons if we were sick shock .
No H&S in those days.

Spice101 Fri 28-Aug-20 01:37:09

Why don't you take a piece to a garden centre and see if they can identify it for you.

CanadianGran Fri 28-Aug-20 02:42:02

I may have found it...do you recall if it had pink flowers in spring?

Red Horse-chestnut or eisculus carnea

Marmight Fri 28-Aug-20 08:29:43

No need to SHOUT MaizieD grin

Shrub Fri 28-Aug-20 09:04:40

It is a variety of horse chestnut.