Volume 10 > Part 3 > Year 2010 > Page 267 > Anacardiaceae > Anacardium

Anacardium occidentale L.wfo-0000533072

Sp. Pl.: 383. 1753; DC., Prodr. 2: 62. 1825, incl. var. indicum DC.; Blume, Bijdr. 1155. 1826; Hassk., Flora 27: 623, 1844; Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 1, 2: 624. 1859; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 20. 1876; Fern.-Vill., Nov. App. 54. 1880; Engl. In A.DC. & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 4: 219. 1883; Vidal, Sin. Gen. Pl. Leños Filip. 22. t.36, f. 36, f. B. 1883; Phan. Cuming. Philipp. 106. 1885; Engl. In Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3, 5: 147, f. 94. 1892; King, J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 65: 479. 1896; Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 2: 12. 1908; Backer, Schoolfl. 279. 1911; Ridl., J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 59: 89. 1911; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins, 1: 526. 1922; Craib, Fl. Siam. Enum. 1: 345. 1926; Tardieu, Fl. Cambodge, Laos & Vietnam 2: 100, t.2, f. 5–11. 1962.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree, up to 12 m high; bark rather smooth. Leaves obovate, sometimes broadly elliptic, 4–22.5 by 2.5–15 cm; apex obtuse or slightly emarginate; base cuneate, coriaceous, glabrous, lateral nerves 8–20 per side, veins reticulate; petioles 0.5–2 cm. Panicles up to 26 cm long, pubescent, floral bracts ovate-oblong, 5–10 mm long; pedicels 2–5 mm. Flowers fragrant, unisexual (staminate flowers) and bisexual on the same plant; calyx lobes unequal, ovate lanceolate, 3–5 mm long; petals linear, 7–15 mm long, reflexed at anthesis, at first pale greenish cream with red stripes, soon turning red; stamens 2–12 mm; anthers 0.7–1 mm long; disc none; ovary ca 1 mm in diam.; style 4–12 mm; rudimentary pistil in staminate flower, 2–3 mm. long. Drupes reniform, 2.5–3.5 by 1.5–2 cm, greyish brown when fresh; hypocarp fleshy, pyriform, 2–3 by 1–2 cm (in fresh state 3–4 times the length of the fruit, shiny, red or yellow, 10–20 by 4–8 cm). Seeds reniform, 1.5–2 by 1 cm.

Thailand : Introduced and widely grown as an economic plant, mostly in the south and southeast.

Distribution : Tropical America, often cultivated on sandy soil in dry areas at low altitude. Widely cultivated in the tropics as a fruit tree.

Ecology : Naturalized on the sandy coast or hills near the sea. Flowering: January, December; fruiting: February–November.

Vernacular : Mamuang siho (มะม่วงสิโห)(Chiang Mai); mamuang kaso (มะม่วงกาสอ)(Uttaradit); mamuang kula (มะม่วงกุลา), mamuang langka (มะม่วงลังกา), mamuang singhon (มะม่วงสิงหน), mamuang yot (มะม่วงหยอด)(Northern); ma-ho (มะโห)(Shan-Mae Hong Son); mamuang mai ru hao (มะม่วงไม่รู้หาว), mamuang himmaphan (มะม่วงหิมพานต์)(Central); mamuang yanghui (มะม่วงยางหุย), mamuang letlo (มะม่วงเล็ดล่อ)(Ranong); mamuang thunnuai (มะม่วงทูนหน่วย), sommuang thun nuai (ส้มม่วงทูนหน่วย)(Surat Thani); kayi (กายี)(Trang); ya ngoi (ยาโงย), ya ruang (ยาร่วง)(Pattani); tam yao (ตำหยาว), thai lo (ท้ายล่อ), som muang chu nuai (ส้มม่วงชูหน่วย)(Peninsular); na-yo (นายอ)(Malay-Yala); ka-tae-kae (กะแตแก)(Malay-Narathiwat).

Uses: All parts of the plant contain an irritant skin poison. The fruits are the source of cashew nuts; the fleshy pear-shaped hypocarp known as cashew apple is also edible. Seeds (cashew nuts) are edible after roasting. The fleshy pear-like cushion can be eaten raw. Much better varieties occur in tropical America, where the pulpy part of the cashew apple is extensively eaten. Various parts of the tree are used in native medicine.