While it's not one of the main nuts grown in the United States, it's a fascinating plant with unusual fruits.
Brazil nuts
grow in the Amazon rainforest, which is spread over many countries in South America. Since Brazil's nut trees have grown wild in the Amazon for thousands of years, it would be impossible to pinpoint the exact country of origin or the precise location of the first trees. Brazil's nut trees are native to the Amazon rainforest and need very specific conditions, such as a tropical climate and the right bee species to pollinate trees.Because of this, although attempts have been made to plant trees in Brazil, natural cultivation has proven to be more reliable. Pickers harvest walnuts from Brazil during the wet season (January-March), when most of the tree fruits have fallen to the forest floor. The felling of naturally growing trees in Brazil has prevented deforestation for this reason in many areas of the Amazon. Brazil's walnut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) are the only species in the monotypic genus Bertholletia, named after the French chemist Claude Louis Berthollet.
This, together with the process of collecting, peeling and shipping walnuts from Brazil, makes their cost a little higher. You may not have thought about it, but Brazil nuts are actually very important, adding tens of millions to South American economies every year. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), also called Pará nut, the edible seed of a large South American tree (Lecythidaceae family) found in the Amazonian forests of Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. Most people think that the country of Brazil is the only place where Brazil's tasty and nutritious nuts come from.
Brazil nuts are mostly sold without shells, not only for ease of consumption but also due to safety regulations in many countries. If you take them from the bag of shelled blended nuts mentioned above, you won't be able to spread them. At first glance, the Brazilian nut looks like little more than an oversized, expensive nut that is overlooked in the supermarket.
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