Are the seeds of the horsechestnut edible?
Horsechestnuts and buckeyes (Aesculus species) should not be confused with true chestnuts (Castanea species). The seeds or nuts of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), and the Allegheny chinkapin (Castanea pumila) are edible. The seeds of horsechestnuts and buckeyes are considered poisonous. The two groups (genera) are not difficult to tell apart. The leaves of horsechestnuts and buckeyes are opposite, palmately compound, with five to nine leaflets. The fruit is a three-valved capsule with a thick, leathery husk. The outer husks are often spiny and contain one to six shiny brown seeds with a large, light-colored spot or eye; hence the common name of buckeye. Chestnut leaves are alternate and simple. The fruit is a spiny bur containing two or three chestnut brown nuts. The American chestnut was once a major tree of forests in the eastern United States and a commercial source of chestnuts. Today, it has nearly disappeared, a victim of chestnut
