Is this a pistacio plant?

Someone gave this to my friend a few years back. They told her it was a pistacio plant they grew since 06. Its only produced like 6 nuts in a year and she's not sure if they were pistacios. She lives 3 hours away and sent me pix. I have no clue honestly but figured a fellow stewbie just may. Thx


( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden )

 

Ok thanks, so not a pistaccio plant. Uhm any clue Toni what it could be?

 

It looks like the young maple trees I have.

 

That's what I said last summer when she asked me then. I had a baby maple tree then too. I don't think its one. But hey I don't know honestly.

 

I don't know what it is, it looks familiar, but I don't think it is a maple, either. The stem/trunk doesn't look right for a maple. A maple won't have those leaf scars on the bark that you can see in this picture.

 

Jatropha?

 

I googled Jatropha and it showed a plant that flowers, some pics the leaves did look alike but this one doesn't flower my friend said.

 

Wonder where the nuts came from without flowers? Did your friend take a pic of the nuts?

 

I asked her today and she said they normally come at the end of summer. I was hoping for pix of them. She also said it loses its leaves for winter. I'm so stumped... And that's the question I should have asked. Instead of does it flower.

 

The flowers may be really boring on a tree, so could probably be easily overlooked. I never notice "flowers" on oak or pecan trees but they are there at some point, the first step in making some nuts. Palm blooms don't look like flowers in most people's description. But anyway, if she notices anything unusual, it may be the flower.

Maybe she can take a pic of one flat leaf? Did she eat the nuts? There are probably other humanly edible ones than the standard varieties in a can of mixed nuts, but I don't know any to compare to this plant. Does anybody know of a lesser-known tree nut? (If it's not a secret you're not allowed to tell - LOL!)

It sure is similar to castor bean...

 

Hope the aggregate of what I've said doesn't give the impression that Jatropha nuts are edible. Probably not, I have no idea. And castor bean is where the poison ricin comes from, please do NOT eat any of those. Excuse me for my loose semantics!