''Anacardium'', the cashews, are a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family

Anacardiaceae The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...

, native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions of the Americas. The best known species is ''

Anacardium occidentale The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus '' Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cul ...

,'' which is commercially cultivated for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.

Etymology

The name ''Anacardium'', originally from the Greek, actually refers to the nut, core or heart of the fruit, which is outwardly located (ana means "upwards" and -cardium means "heart").

Taxonomy

The oldest species of the genus ''Anacardium'' is ''Anacardium germanicum'' from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

aged

Messel Pit The Messel pit (german: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserve ...

of Germany, well outside the current range of the genus. They were present in the Americas by the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

, as evidenced by the species ''Anacardium gassonii'' from Panama. , the ''Plants of the World Online'' accepts 20 species: *'' Anacardium amapaense'' J.D.Mitch. *'' Anacardium amilcarianum'' Machado *'' Anacardium brasiliense'' Barb.Rodr. *'' Anacardium caracolii'' Mutis ex Alba *''

Anacardium corymbosum ''Anacardium'', the cashews, are a genus of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The best known species is '' Anacardium occidentale,'' which is commercially cultivated for its cashew nuts a ...

'' Barb.Rodr. *'' Anacardium curatellifolium'' A.St.-Hil. *''

Anacardium excelsum ''Anacardium excelsum'', the wild cashew or ''espavé'', is a tree in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The tree is common in the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests of Pacific and Atlantic watersheds of Central and South Amer ...

'' L. — Wild cashew *'' Anacardium fruticosum'' J.Mitch. & S.A.Mori *''

Anacardium giganteum ''Anacardium giganteum'', also known as cajui, of the family Anacardiaceae are the trees that are huge and occur usually in the upland rainforest and sometimes appear in the high flood plains that holds the soil, resistant to water-log. Referen ...

'' (Bertero & Balb. ex Kunth) Skeels — Caja acu, also known as wild cashew, used medicinally *'' Anacardium humile'' Hance ex Engl. *'' Anacardium kuhlmannianum'' Machado *'' Anacardium microsepalum'' *'' Anacardium nanum'' A.St.-Hil. *'' Anacardium negrense'' Pires & Froes *''

'' L. —

Cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus '' Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf c ...

*'' Anacardium othonianum'' Rizzini *'' Anacardium parvifolium'' Ducke *'' Anacardium rondonianum'' Machado *'' Anacardium spruceanum'' Benth. ex Engl. *'' Anacardium tenuifolium'' Ducke

References

External links

Anacardiaceae genera {{Anacardiaceae-stub