Anacardium occidentale
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Anacardium occidentale
COMMON NAME(S): Cashew
SYNONYM(S):
FAMILY: ANACARDIACEAE - Cashew family
ORIGIN: American tropics
HABITAT: Cultivated landscapes
RANGE:
TYPE:
HEIGHT: 30-40'
CHARACTERISTICS: Bark smooth, brown; trunk usually crooked; sap clear but drying black
LEAVES: Alternate, simple, elliptic, 3-10" long; thick and leathery
FLOWERS: Inconspicuous, congested on branched flower stems
FLOWERING SEASON: All year
FRUITS: One-seeded, flower stalk enlarged and fleshy, red; "nut" held below this fleshy structure; this "cashew apple" is eaten fresh or in syrup, or squeezed for juice
ALLERGENIC PRINCIPLES: Anacardic acid, cardol (a caustic oil), urushiol
ALLERGENIC PROPERTIES: Dermatological and respiratory
COMMENTS: The nuts of the cashew fruit must be roasted to destroy their toxic properties. Contact with unroasted shells can cause burning and blistering of the skin. The enlarged flower stalk, called a cashew apple, is preserved as a dessert or used raw as a mild vermifuge.
