Pine nuts, also called piñón, pinoli, or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locally or internationally owing to their seed size being large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines, the seeds are also edible but are too small to be of notable value as human food. The biggest producers of pine nuts are China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Shelled European pine (Pinus pinea) nuts
Shelled Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) nuts
Stone pine – note two nuts under each cone scale
Stone pine (Pinus pinea) nuts
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus Pinus of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
Pine
Ancient Pinus longaeva, California, United States
Pinus taeda bark
Pinus radiata female (ovulate) cone