There’s a tree behind our apartment building. There’s a bench beneath it, a good place to sit away from the main traffic through the park. It’s a nice enough tree during the summer.
About two weeks ago, we noticed people in the park stooped around the tree, occasionally picking something off the ground. By last week, families were coming to fill their sacks.
We’d seen people harvesting berries from other places in the park, so foraging in public park was not unusual behavior. Nevertheless, this tree was attracting quite a bit of attention. Will’s curiosity began 
to burn, and Anita got interested too. So today, we went down to take a look for ourselves.
The area was picked over, of course. We found whole nuts, but they were either from the bush nearby or the horse-chestnut tree a bit further. (The tree drops conkers, which we call buckeyes when they fall from the North American variant.)
The soft shells aren’t familiar to us. The few hard shells look like walnuts to Anita.
Help! Can you help us identify this tree? This curiosity is starting to feel like an itch, and it seems a little creepy to stake out the park.
Is it a sausage?
Comment by Barry Cade — 10 October 2009 @ 5:05
Is it a cucumber?
Comment by Ed Le Canard — 18 October 2009 @ 5:02
I think it’s a nut.
Comment by Jimmy Knuckstumper — 18 October 2009 @ 5:03
Is it a Saracen warrior’s scimitar?
Comment by Sam Widge — 19 October 2009 @ 0:40
I think it’s a hamster.
Comment by Chris Peeduck — 19 October 2009 @ 2:14
Have any of the contributors thought more widely? I don’t think so. Let’s look at the evidence: it’s a tree; people were collecting its fruit. So it’s likely to be an edible fruit (although conkers are collected in the UK by kids) What kind of fruit? Luxembourg is in northern Europe, so it’s unlikely to be citrus. It could have been an apple or pear, but the photo didn’t show a fruit that looked like either. The fruit looked like a nut. Not an almond. The fruit looks like a walnut. The tree looks like a walnut tree. I must be a walnut. What do others think?
Comment by Bridget Oofar — 20 October 2009 @ 4:25
It’s custard.
Comment by Mike Rofone — 23 October 2009 @ 3:34
It’s cheese.
Comment by Seymour Muff — 23 October 2009 @ 23:33
Come on people. Wake up! It’s a freakin’ walnut like Bridget says.
Tom
Comment by Tom Bola — 25 October 2009 @ 2:39
I’m pretty sure its a walnut too. When are we going to get the final verdict?!
Comment by Noah Zark — 25 October 2009 @ 2:40
I’m a trained investigator with the Pennsylvania CSI. Now this oner really is a hard nut to crack. But come on, as Toma says, it’s a freakin’ walnut! Christ Almighty people.
Comment by Anne Droid — 25 October 2009 @ 2:46
I think it’s a walnut. When are we going to get the answer?
Comment by Matt Innay — 26 October 2009 @ 0:46
It’s squirrel food – that’s for sure!
Comment by Chip Grizwald — 26 October 2009 @ 0:48
I’m not so certain that it’s a nut. It’s a tricky one, but on the balance of probabilities I think it’s a walnut. It might be a toasted cheese sandwich though…
Comment by Hugh Bris — 27 October 2009 @ 3:55
I parachuted into Normandy on the night of 5 June 1944. My friends call me “spunky”. I’ll tell you why. It may shed some light on your conundrum.
I was a young Leiutenant in the British Army’s 3rd Parachute Brigade at the time, aged 22, serving under the brilliant Lt-Col Otway. We were to destroy five bridges over the river Dives near Caen. I have never felt sicker in my life as we thundered across the Channel that night. We all had a swig of whisky before the drop to calm the nerves though!
Soon after the whisky the ack-ack began, the pilot throwing the crate all over the sky as the red hot shrapnell exploded around the formation. Things were going badly. Everything was chaos, and I don’t remember how I got to the door for the jump. I learned later that our plane had been hit in the tail and the pilot was struggling to keep her strainght and level.
The boys were scattered everywhere. As I floated down, I could see the German searchlights and tracers dancing across the blackness. The jump seemed to have calmed me, but I still felt sick in the pit of my stomach.
The ground approached. I didn’t have much control of the ‘chute, and I could see that I was coming down into a copse near to a farm house. As the ground rushed up, I noticed the trees. I didn’t want to get tangled in one as I’d have been a sitting duck for the Germans. But try as I might I couldn’t avoid the final crunch. I hit the tree at what seemed like terrifying speed. And the searing pain glanced into my belly. I dropped out of the tree and landed on the soft grass with a thump. I threw up. Pulled myself together and could hear the fight going on around me. The rest, as they say, is history. We won the fight and I lost some brothers.
It turned out that I had lost a testicle that night. Andy (Jock) Strap, my Scottish best friend in the Regiment hooked up with me and off we went. The pain subsided once we got into the thick of it. I was treated in the field hospital two days later and taken back to Blighty the day after that. But Jock was the one who branded me Spunky on the strength of my little accident.
I suppose the point is, that your tree is definitely a Walnut. I’ve been back to Normandy many times and the Rospierre family are firm friends of the Rice’s. Jean-Luc Rospierre (he died in 1968) showed me great hospitality,and showed me around his land where my gang had landed. Indeed we found the very tree where I had come a cropper.
Since those days I had 3 kids with my wife Dot and we have 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
I have never enjoyed walnuts since the 5 June 1944.
Comment by Huw Rice — 3 November 2009 @ 16:43
Is it a Mongol horde?
Comment by Mike Roscopy — 7 November 2009 @ 4:50
Is it a walnut? Pleeeeaaase let us know. Huw told us he lost a testicle in a walnut tree. The least you could do is put us out of our misery and let us know.
Mand.
Comment by Mandy Bull — 14 November 2009 @ 4:18