What tree is a conker?
horse chestnut tree
Conkers are the glossy brown seeds of the horse chestnut tree.
What is the nut inside a conker called?
The game of conkers is known as ‘Kingers’ in some parts of the world. What is a conker? A conker is the seed of the horse chestnut tree (not the sweet chestnut tree where we get edible chestnuts from). It is a hard brown nut which is found in a prickly casing.
Is a conker a seed or a fruit?
Conkers, often called the buckeye, contain seeds from which new trees can grow. These are the fruit of the horse chestnut tree. However, the conker must be opened for the release of the seeds.
What is a conker called in the US?
A conker is the seed of the horse chestnut tree (not the sweet chestnut tree where we get edible chestnuts from). It is a hard brown nut which is found in a prickly casing. They are called Buckeyes in the US. Conkers are non-edible and they are not related to the chestnuts and their botanical name is Castanea dentate.
How long do Conker trees live?
300 years
Horse chestnut trees can live for up to 300 years and, at their largest, can reach heights of 40 metres with 2 meter wide trunks. 9.
What does Concker mean?
1 : a horse chestnut especially when used in conkers. 2 conkers plural : a game in which each player swings a horse chestnut on a string to try to break one held by the opponent.
Can you touch horse chestnuts?
No, you cannot consume these nuts safely. Cattle, horses, sheep and chickens have been poisoned by eating poisonous conkers or even the young shoots and foliage of the trees.
Are Conker trees rare?
It was first introduced to the UK from Turkey in the late 16th century and widely planted. Though rarely found in woodland, it is a common sight in parks, gardens, streets and on village greens. Conkers cover the tree in autumn.
Do squirrels eat conkers?
By the arrival of the autumn, if they haven’t already due to infection, the conkers will be ripe and ready to fall to the ground. At this time squirrels will eat the ripe conkers but also bury others that may turn into future horse chestnut trees if buried before they dry out.
Why are conkers spiky?
Despite being called horse chestnuts, conkers can actually be mildly poisonous to some animals. But perhaps, the most telling characteristic of the chestnut is the spiny husks, called burrs (or burs), that grow in clusters on the tree. These protective burrs are where the chestnuts form.
Why are horse chestnuts called conkers?
The first recorded game of Conkers using horse chestnuts was on the Isle of Wight in 1848. The name may come from the dialect word conker, meaning “knock out” (perhaps related to French conque meaning a conch, as the game was originally played using snail shells and small bits of string.)
Is Conker a real word?
noun British Informal. a horse chestnut. the hollowed-out shell of a horse chestnut.
Can chestnuts be poisonous?
Edible chestnuts are easy to tell apart from unrelated toxic species like horse chestnut or buckeye. The toxic, inedible horse chestnuts have a fleshy, bumpy husk with a wart-covered appearance. Both horse chestnut and edible chestnuts produce a brown nut, but edible chestnuts always have a tassel or point on the nut.
