Cashew
species of plant
Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree Anacardium occidentale, in the family Anacardiaceae. It is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple. The tree can grow as tall as 14 meters (46 feet).
Cashews are native to tropical South America. Portuguese explorers encountered them in the 16th century and spread them to India and other tropical regions of the world. The dwarf cultivars, growing up to 6 m (20 ft), are the most profitable, maturing sooner and producing greater yields. In 2023, 3.9 million tons of cashew nuts were harvested globally, led by the Ivory Coast and India.
The nut shell and raw seed are toxic, but the nut is edible once shelled and roasted or steamed. Treated cashews are eaten on their own as a snack, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. The cashew apple, an accessory fruit, is a light reddish to yellow fruit, the pulp and juice of which can be processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or fermented and distilled into liquor.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cashew” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cashew, species and plant, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q34007. The Library of Congress control number is sh85020588. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cashew” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.