Many edible nuts are no nuts in the botanical sense. They are the solid central part of a fruit of which the outside is removed. The complete fruits are often stone fruits of which the seeds, surrounded by the innermost hard part of the fruit wall, are called nuts.

True nuts are the sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa, and the hazel nut, Corylus avellana.

Edible dessert nuts are:
- cashew, Anacardium occidentale;
- groundnut, peanut or monkey nut, Arachis hypogaea;
- Brazil or para nut, Bertholletia excelsa;
- pecan nut, Carya illinoensis;
- hickory, Carya ovata (see Carya illinoensis);
- walnut, Juglans regia;
- macadamia or Queensland nut, Macadamia ternifolia;
- pistachio, Pistacia vera;
- almond, Prunus amygdalus.

Consumed for their stimulating effect are the betel nut, Areca catechu (Edible nuts 2), and the kola nut, Cola nitida.

Vegetable ivory is the rock hard endosperm in the seed of some palm species like the doum palm, Hyphaene thebaica; and the ivory nut palm, Phytelephas macrocarpa. In former days it was used for the manufacture of buttons, dice, chessmen, billiard balls, and other objects. Nowadays vegetable ivory is largely replaced by synthetic materials.