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bd6866eb | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @fb2b7c61
I guess this isn't a horse chestnut?  Inside is a shiny brown 'conker' that kids (and not just kids)  collect. 
But I'm sure you know conkers and horse chestnuts. So this is probably not what it is.  (The little flowers are gorgeous, though not often noticed.)
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Bryan Wright | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @c08e167d 
I thought horse chestnuts didn't have husks as spikey as this, but I might be wrong.  I looked at the tree's leaves, but foolishly didn't take a picture of them. My recollection is that they were simple leaves, not compound leaves like horse chestnuts.

My parents grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, and one of the local superstitions was that carrying a buckeye brought you luck. I often carried one in my pocket as a kid, more because it was pretty than for luck.
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bd6866eb | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @fb2b7c61
I think @7d85d87e got it,  from our time in France. He says sweet chestnuts. The kind you roast. They are inside and 2 or 3, I think,  smaller.
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Bryan Wright | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @c08e167d @7d85d87e 

I love roasted chestnuts, but haven't made them in a long time. These days we buy packaged pre-roasted chestnuts once a year for a stew recipe I make at Christmas.