Piedmont

 These walnut fossils, associated with present-day pecans and found at La Morra (Cuneo), are among the first fossils described in Piedmont. In 1757, the botanist Carlo Allioni mentioned them as "Fructum nucis juglandis," while in 1828 the French geologist Alexandre Brongniart established the new species Juglans nux-taurinensis ("Turin walnut"), based on two specimens still housed at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris.

In 2025, following a careful review of the available fossil material, the species was reassigned to the genus Carya, thereby establishing a new lectotype.

As reported by Paolo Peola in his 1895 book "Flora Fossile Braidese," other specimens attributed to this species are held at the Craveri Museum in Bra (Cuneo) and were found at the Bric del Dente site, mentioned by the naturalist Federico Craveri himself. Recent studies indicate that a deposit attributable to the Messinian (approximately 7.2-5.3 Ma) outcrops in this area, from which the specimens may have originated. However, fieldwork carried out to pinpoint the exact site of origin of the walnuts has not yet yielded a positive result.

The importance of Carya nux-taurinensis is manifold: these are the only finds of this type discovered in Piedmont, and they help reconstruct past continental climates and ecosystems. They are also significant from a historical perspective, as they bear witness to the earliest palaeobotanical investigations carried out by eminent eighteenth-century scholars.