This tropical evergreen is the Cashew Tree, Anacardium occidentale. It belongs to the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, along with mango, pistachio and poison ivy. It is native to tropical America but has been carried around the world and is now widely cultivated throughout the tropics for its edible seeds.

Cashew Trees are usually small to medium-sized, with low, spreading branches and a broad, irregular crown. The leaves are simple, thick and leathery, with smooth edges and rounded tips. New leaves may emerge reddish or bronze before becoming green.

The flowers are small but attractive and are produced in branching clusters. They may be pale green, cream or pinkish, often marked with darker red lines. Male flowers and flowers containing both male and female parts may occur within the same cluster, and insects help carry pollen between them.

The fruiting structure is one of the most unusual in the plant world. What looks like the main fruit—the swollen yellow, orange or red “cashew apple”—is actually an enlarged, fleshy flower stalk. The true fruit is the hard, kidney-shaped structure hanging beneath it.

Inside that hard shell is the familiar cashew kernel. So, botanically speaking, the cashew “nut” grows outside and below the colorful cashew apple rather than inside it.

The cashew apple is juicy, fragrant and rich in vitamin C. It may be eaten fresh or used to make juice, preserves, wine and other drinks. Because its skin is delicate and the fruit spoils quickly, it is rarely transported far from the places where cashews are grown.

The shell surrounding the cashew kernel contains a powerful, irritating oil related to the substances found in poison ivy. It can burn or blister the skin, which is why cashews must be professionally processed before they are sold. The kernels marketed as “raw cashews” have still undergone treatment to remove the hazardous shell and oil.

Cashew Trees tolerate heat, drought and relatively poor soils, making them valuable crops in many seasonally dry tropical regions. Their broad crowns also provide shade, while their flowers support bees and other insects.

The Cashew Tree is therefore much more interesting than a simple source of nuts. It produces a delicate flower, a colorful edible false fruit and a single valuable seed protected by a potentially dangerous shell—all suspended together in one remarkable structure.