Nut/Seed ID please

[CβL]

What is this strange nut? I collected it last year from Kawau island, next to the old homestead. It's been cluttering around ever since then, so I want to finally find out what it is - so I can grow it, or eat it.

Here is the nut in question:

I took this photo of a tree from near where I found the nut, but I can't remember if I took the photo because I knew it was the tree the nut came from, or because it was just a tree I wanted to ID. But I can tell that the photo I took was primarily for ID reasons, (as it's not my usual stunning photography ) so it has a high chance of being the mum tree.




Thanks in advance.

[ghosty]

wow, cant help you there. never seen anything quite like that before. rather awesome isnt it. lets hope some of the great people here can ID it for you. i for one, will be keeping an eye on this thread.

[paradox]

maybe something in Fagaceae? looks kind of like some kind of chestnut..

[CβL]

A fair amount of searching looking for nuts, beeches, chestnut types, Macadamias (the tree looks like a Macadamia relative) turned up nothing. There is a superficially similar 'Black walnut', but it doesn't look the same in any way.

I found this: http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/getting-involved/students-and-teachers/field-trips-by-region/kawau-island-flora.pdf

And am searching through the listed plants for information.

It says Quercus Ilex is here - which looks extremely similar to the plant I took an ID photo of. But it doesn't have funny black nuts - just standard acorns. :/
:

Quercus Ilex (Holly Oak)

Edited April 2, 2013 by CβL

[CβL]

I thought this would be a lot easier than it's proving to be. :|

Just to be clear, the wrinkly black outer layer is very hard, and feels comparable in hardness to the shell of a macadamia (I scratched the bottom with a knife to test). It's quite dense and solid (no rattling), and would weigh as much as two Macadamia nuts or so. It's about the size of an eyeball. I can take further photos if necessary.
I've checked almost all the plants listed in that .pdf, and no black nuts appeared. Either I'm an egg - or this is a bit of a mystery nut indeed.
Would be mint if it was a very rare plant growing, and no-one had IDed it correctly before (entirely possible).

[Nemisty]

Governor Gray was into growing some unusual plants, and animals. He had zebra's and what not grazing around the mansion back in the day. I am fairly certain I've come across that nut before but its been a long long time since I've seen one.

[CβL]

You been there? That place is epic. I'm fairly sure there was a few uncommon Acacias growing there too (I have photos of what are very likely Maidenii, or at least another long-phyllode species). I didn't know he had zebras though haha. I did know that he was so good at wallaby conservation that Australia asked for some them back. ;)
If I can find out how to grow this nut, I'll grow it to get a better idea of what it is.

[paradox]

a somewhat shriveled horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum!

[paradox]

The plant in your first pic isn't though

[CβL]

Does look a lot like an Aesculus - but I think a bit more like A. glabra (as the hilum [that's the name for the little white patch where it attaches to the plant?] seems way too huge on A. hippocastanum)

A. glabra:

Aesculus hippocastanum:

[CβL]

Aesculus Indica!

Pretty sure these are them, or another Aesculus. Thanks for your help paradox.

[paradox]

yeah mun

[ghosty]

looks like this one been fiqured out then aye. i ate some thing called longans the other day and thought the seed was just like those you have. though the leaves dont look right.