BRAZIL NUTS, the seeds of a large tree (Bertholletia excelsa) of the lecythis family (Lecythidaceae), which grows throughout tropical America. The tree attains a height of 13oft., and has a globular fruit, with a diameter of five or six inches, con sisting of a thick hard woody shell, within which are packed the seeds which constitute the so-called nuts of commerce. The seeds are triangular in form, having a hard woody testa enclosing the "kernel"; and of these each fruit contains from 18 to 25.