12

These were in abundance throughout Germany and looks kinda strange.

Image of a strange seed/fruit in Germany

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    These are not specific to Germany, you will find them in abundance in the United Kingdom, for example.
    – Jack Aidley
    Jan 25, 2017 at 9:41
  • 3
    How did you never see a common chesnut before?
    – Davor
    Jan 25, 2017 at 11:43
  • 1
    I grew up in the U.K. And hadn't seen a Conner until I was an adult. Even then I hadn't seen this spiky bit until relatively recently. They are not ubiquitous.
    – Rory Alsop ♦
    Jan 25, 2017 at 14:18
  • Indeed I was also surprised to learn that someone could have not seen one.
    – Rugnir
    Jan 25, 2017 at 15:34
  • I should have stated that i noticed this in my second week of being in Germany. I live in India and never seen anything like this here :)
    – ishan
    Jan 27, 2017 at 9:13

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
23

These are not exactly the seeds, but the hull of the seeds of the horse chestnut.

Chestnuts.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aesculus_hippocastanum_fruit.jpg

Improve this answer
9
  • 3
    Horse chestnuts are sometimes colloquially known as conkers.
    – Aravona
    Jan 25, 2017 at 8:33
  • 1
    And, by the way, the German name is basically the literal translation "Rosskastanie". Where a "Ross" is another name for "Pferd" (horse), and "Kastanie" means chestnut.
    – anderas
    Jan 25, 2017 at 10:34
  • 5
    More by the way: you can see the nuts themselves (which are sometimes also called buckeyes in American English) on the ground in your photo. They are poisonous. However, you can also find real/sweet chestnut trees in Germany (Esskastanien/Edelkastanien/Kastanien/Maronen) which have similar looking nuts and also spiky hulls (but those spikes are made of very many needle-like spines which will make your hands itch).
    – Max
    Jan 25, 2017 at 10:42
  • 1
    You don't often find round sweet chestnuts (though they do exist). Most commonly two or three grow in a single (very prickly) hull, and so the nuts have one or two flat sides. In contrast conkers / horse chestnuts are most often round.
    – nigel222
    Jan 25, 2017 at 11:59
  • 1
    @Aravona I've been conked, and have conked a few with chestnuts back in the day here in Canada. A green chestnut on the end of a twig is the closest I've ever come to charging into battle with a mace.
    – ShemSeger
    Nov 29, 2017 at 0:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.