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Nickernuts or nickar nuts are smooth, shiny seeds from tropical leguminous shrubs, particularly ''Caesalpinia bonduc'' and ''C. major'',〔("The Fabulous Nickernuts" ), Wayne's Word vol. 6 no. 3, Fall 1997, retrieved 1 June 2010.〕 both known by the common name warri tree. ''C. bonduc'' produces gray nickernuts, and ''C. major'' produces yellow. Accordingly, these species are locally known in the Caribbean as "grey nickers" and "yellow nickers". The word ''nicker'' probably derives from the Dutch word "knikker", meaning clay marble.〔''West Word'' (March 2002 ), retrieved 1 June 2010.〕 In the Caribbean, nickernuts are used to play mancala games such as oware. The nickernut is marble-like and good for other uses, such as for jewellery; it is also sometimes ground up to make a medicinal tea.〔 The seeds are often found on the beach, and are also known as sea pearls〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gray Nickarbean or Sea Pearl ) 〕 or eaglestones.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nickarbeans and Sea Pearls ) 〕 ''Caesalpinia'' and ''Merremia'' seeds sometimes drift long distances. In 1693 James Wallace referred to them being often found in Orkney: "After Storms of Westerly Wind amongst the Sea-weed, they find commonly in places expos'd to the Western-Ocean these Phaseoli . . . . ()rom the West-Indies, where they commonly grow, they may be thrown in on Ireland, the Western parts of Scotland and Orkney".〔James Wallace, ''A Description of the Isles of Orkney'', 1693, 2nd ed. ed. John Small, Edinburgh: William Brown, 1883, OCLC 4383160, (p. 183 ).〕 In 1751 Erich Pontoppidan described one found on the coast of Norway: "It is of the size of a chestnut, obicular, yet flat, or as it were compressed on both sides. Its colour is a dark brown yet in the middle, at the junction of the shells, it is varied with a circle of shining-black, and close by that another of a lively red, which have a very pretty effect".〔Cited in Jack D. Forbes, ''The American Discovery of Europe'', Urbana: University of Illinois, 2007, ISBN 0-252-03152-0, (p. 29 ).〕 They were known as 'sea beans' in Scandinavia, where one has been found fossilised in a Swedish bog,〔Forbes, ( p. 30 ).〕 and 'Molucca beans' in the Hebrides, where a visitor to Islay in 1772 wrote of them as seeds of "''Dolichos wrens'', ''Guilamdina Bonduc'', ''G. Bonducetta'', and ''mimosa scandens'' . . . natives of ''Jamaica''".〔Forbes, (p. 30 ).〕 The 1797 Edition of the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' said that they were used only for "the making of snuff-boxes out of them";〔"Orkney", (vol. 13, p. 500 ).〕 however, there is a long tradition of using them as amulets for good luck,〔 banishment of ill luck〔Forbes, (pp. 29-30 ): tied around children's necks in the Hebrides around 1700, the white ones used as talismans as late as 1948 and called "St. Mary's beans".〕 or to ease childbirth.〔Audrey Meaney, "Drift Seeds and the Brísingamen", ''Folklore'' 94.1 (1983) 33-39, (p. 33 ). In addition to 'sea-beans' they are called ''lausnarsteinar'', 'birth stones', Iceland and ''vettenyrer'', 'wight kidneys', in the Faroes and Norway.〕 ==Gallery== File:Caesalpinia bonduc seeds W IMG 6944.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' seeds in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Caesalpinia bonduc leaves W IMG 6706.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' leaves in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Caesalpinia bonduc fruit W IMG 6946.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' fruit in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Caesalpinia bonduc fruit W IMG 6698.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' fruit in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Caesalpinia bonduc flowers W IMG 6708.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' flowers in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Caesalpinia bonduc flowers W IMG 6707.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' flowers in Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. File:Nickernut Seed Pods.jpg|''Caesalpinia bonduc'' Unripe nickernut seed pods at Port Canaveral, Florida. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「nickernut」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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