This is one of the joys of autumn walks in the beautiful Yvelines forest: picking chestnuts to enjoy them mashed, fresh, or roasted. If chestnuts are edible, horse chestnuts are poisonous. How to tell the difference?

chestnuts/Pixabay

Even if we used to talk about “chestnut”, “candied chestnut”, or even “cream” or “chestnut puree”, actually a large variety of chestnuts are grown for their consumption.

But confusion of horse chestnuts with chestnuts is common. Especially according to National Health Safety Agency and poison control center, more than 1 in 10 plant confusion concerns chestnuts and chestnuts.

Eating chestnuts can cause various digestive disorders such as stomach pain, nausea, vomiting or throat irritation.

Watch for bugs

First, observe the shape and the bug (“capsule”) that wraps it:

Chestnuts are brown, full of many long spines, and contain 2 to 3 chestnuts both are rather small, flat and triangular;

The horse chestnut tick is thick, green, with small spikes wide and short, and usually contains one chocolatebigger and rounder.

Look where the trees are

Chestnut trees are commonly found in cities, parks, alleys, and school grounds… while chestnut trees are more likely to be found in forests, woodlands or orchards.

Love the leaves

Simple chestnut leaves without midrib and elongated,
The leaves of the chestnut tree each consist of an oval-shaped “leaf” (leaf), which gives the entire leaf a webbed appearance.

Good reflex

Photos of plants for easy identification in case of poisoning.

In case of poisoning, call “15” or the Paris-Ile-de-France poison control center (for residents of Yvelin): 01 40 05 48 48