10
Anacardium
occidentale L.
Synonym : Acajuba occidentalis (L.) Gaertn.
Family
: Anacardiaceae
Local Names
: Kashumaavu,
Cashew Nut Tree
Flowering
and fruiting period:
November – April
Distribution: Native of South
America; now widely cultivated in Asia and Africa
Habitat: Cultivated
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Nativity: Exotic naturalised
Uses: Fruits edible, Young
leaf, stem edible. .Cashew apple
juice can be slightly fermented to become wine and can be distilled to produce
strong alcoholic drinks. Both the fruit bark juice and the nut oil are said to
be folk remedies for calluses, corns, warts, cancerous ulcers, and even
elephantiasis. Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), an oil, is produced in large
cells of pericarp. The wood can also be used as fuel. Older leaves are used in
the treatment of skin afflictions and burns. Oily substances from the pericarp
are used to heal cracks in the feet. . Bark and leaves are used to treat sore
gums and toothache. The extraction of the leaves is gargled to cure sore
throat.
Key
Characters:
Cashew Nut trees are gregarious evergreen trees, bark pale grey to brown,
smooth. Leaves simple, alternate, obovate; apex obtuse, round or retuse, margin
entire,. Flowers polygamous, yellow, streaked with pink, in terminal
prominently bracteate panicles. Calyx 5-partite, imbricate, deciduous. Petals
5, imbricate;. Stamens 8-10, one usually longer than others;. Ovary superior,
1-celled, ovule 1; stigma minute. Fruit a reniform nut, a pseudocarp.
