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We can't get over how weird cashews look before they're picked

Things will never be the same.
/ Source: TODAY

It's 2019 and Twitter is still going nuts over what cashews really look like before they're picked from the tree, roasted and salted.

On Thursday, a picture of the tree nut in its natural state began making the rounds on social media and, apparently, thousands of people weren't prepared for the truth.

“i was today years old when i learned that this is how cashews grow,” YouTube personality Colleen Ballinger (who is best known for her character Miranda Sings) tweeted, along with a photo.

The shock factor wasn't about the fact that cashews come from trees or even that they're technically seeds. It’s that they are attached to a fleshy, edible fruit known as the cashew apple. When ripe, the whole thing falls to the ground and is then harvested.

Cashew nut fruit
Cashews grow in a cashew apple. Getty Images stock

Some said they thought the nut part looked rather unappetizing.

Some people were just disturbed by the picture itself.

Others thought they were actually kinda cute.

But many responses ranged from saying the nuts looked "terrifying" to feelings of betrayal.

Many started spouting off little-known facts about raw cashews, like how they contain a toxic resin which can can cause burns and blisters.

To remove the harmful substance, cashews go through a rigorous roasting or steaming process, according to a post from the School of Medicine at the University of California Davis. Raw cashews actually contain the same irritant that makes poison ivy so poisonous. Yikes.

But what about the red part hanging on the tree?

As for the taste of the cashew apple, one tweeter described it as “kinda sweet” and a cross between Granny Smith apples and plums. It's most often used in jellies and juices.

Of course, raw cashews aren't the only fruit or vegetable seen in its natural state that has puzzled social media before.

Artichokes actually bloom gorgeous purple flowers.

Black peppercorns look like little berries clustered on a vine.

And, of course, who would have thought that pineapples just basically sprout up from the ground?