| Proper Almonds are a favoriteof
mine. Not only do I love the nut, but I love grinding the hard shell in
my beak. Helps to keep it in trim.
In botanical terms, the Almond
fruit is not a nut, but a drupe 3.5 to 6 cm long. The outer covering or
exocarp, fleshy in other members of Prunus such as the plum and cherry,
is instead a thick leathery grey-green coat (with a downy exterior), called
the hull. Inside the hull is a reticulated hard woody shell (like the outside
of a peach pit) called the endocarp. Inside the shell is the edible seed,
commonly called a nut. Generally, one seed is present, but occasionally
there are two. |
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