The beechnut (or beechmast) is the small, sharply triangular nut of the beech tree — chiefly the European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and the American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Sweet, oily and faintly astringent, the kernels are eaten raw in small quantities, roasted, or — historically more importantly — pressed for a fine cooking and lamp oil and fed to pigs and poultry as forest mast.