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Anacardium occidentale L.

Synonym                    : Acajuba occidentalis (L.) Gaertn.

Family                        : Anacardiaceae

Local Names              : Kashumaav, 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

Endemic: No

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 from 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.