Anyone know what this is?

[Dan_Watkins]

A friend bought this seed at a tag sale and has no idea what it is. The large one is the husk, and the little one is the seed from inside the husk. They are super light weight. Any ideas??

 

[BostonBull]

Juglans nigra?

 

[Dan_Watkins]

i have no idea if its native to NE or not. im guessing not

 

[trees4ever]

I'd say it looks like the fruit of the Myristica tree
(i.e. nutmeg).

There are several species in the genus Myristica.


The husk and seed in the photo seem rather old and dried out. That might also explain why they feel so light.

In a freshly opened husk around the small brown inner 'nutmeg' seed is a lacy red covering (this probably fell off the seed in the photo once it dried). This delicate aril is dried and ground up and used as a cooking spice called mace.

So you get two different spices from this one fruit - nutmeg and mace.


**For those who are not bakers - these two spices are most often used in the making of pumpkin pie.



-Diane

 

[mdvaden]

If its nutmeg, then I may have only seen one locally before, at the arboretum if I recall.

And it was a very nice looking tree.