The fruit of the American Beech tree is an edible nut: usually in pairs within a bristly reddish-brown husk.
The nuts are dispersed by birds and mammals.
When the tree is about 50 years old it begins to have good seed crops every 2 – 8 years.
The nuts have a bitter to mild nut-like taste.
They can be pressed to make edible oil.
Because it is difficult to harvest beech nuts mechanically, they are seldom eaten these days.
They are also much smaller that the nuts that currently grace our tables.
Miles Hearn