You can make miniature flowers out of pistachio shells. You can paint them, glue them together, and arrange them into little tulips or dahlias. Each half-shell becomes a petal.

Pistachios are drupes, like peaches and plums. The shell and the nut together is analagous to a peach stone. If you've ever shook a peach stone and felt it rattle, this is the same thing.

We selectively bred for pistachios with flesh that rots quickly and shells that split open. Pistachio flowers do not have petals. They are tiny, reddish-yellow buds that group in small clusters. They look like sea anemones or pomegranate seeds.