Going all nuts!

The other day..

Na: You're making me nuts..
mf: Hmm.. I don't make nuts! Nuts come from.. OH NO, I DON'T KNOW! And I like to eat nuts!
Na: *.*

(Well I later realised I knew that groundnuts were from, well, the ground.)

So I did a search..

According to good old Wikipedia, a walnut is a nut. A chestnut is a nut too, though I've never associated that with the usual tiny nuts! But wait, a coconut is not a nut :p Pecan and hazel are the other two common nuts that are actually nuts. The nut family also includes beech, oak and birch - I didn't know these were nuts! And what the hell is a filbert nut?!

Then, imagine my shock to hear that almonds are not nuts! Neither are groundnuts! Apparently, almonds are culinary nuts, not botanically classified as nuts.. Together with Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, pine nuts and pistachio nuts, almonds are classified as seeds. Groundnuts or peanuts are both a legume and a seed, and the coconut is a drupe, which is.. Eh definition is too long..

Anyway, back to original question of where nuts come from.. Let me modify that to where my favourite nuts come from :)

Hazel! From deciduous trees and large shrubs.. The Turkish hazel nut doesn't look too friendly.. Almonds also come from trees with pretty flowers. Cashew - oh yummy yummy! - and pistachio are also from trees, the latter looks like a bunch of flowers on its tree!

Wa, I feel like I've just had a bio class.. Exhausted.. I'll move on to something else..

* If you somehow happen to wonder what it's like to be classified as nuts, well I can tell you it's not funny!