cashew
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cashew
1. a tropical American anacardiaceous evergreen tree, Anacardium occidentale, bearing kidney-shaped nuts that protrude from a fleshy receptacle
2. the edible nut of this tree
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
cashew
[′kash·ü] (botany)
Anacardium occidentale. An evergreen tree of the order Sapindales grown for its kidney-shaped edible nuts and resinous oil.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Cashew
(Anacardium occidentale), a tree up to 12 m tall of the family Anacardiaceae. It is cultivated in the tropics. The shell of the nutlike fruit yields cashew oil, which is used in medicine; there is also an edible nucleus. The pear-shaped peduncle, known as the cashew apple, has a pleasant bittersweet taste, is rich in vitamin C, and is valued as a fruit. A gum is made from the trunks of old cashew trees. Articles made from cashew wood are resistant to decay.
REFERENCES
Alekseev, V. P. “Kazhu, akazhu: Anacardium occidentale L.” Subtropicheskie kul’tury, 1959, no 1.Siniagin, I. I. Tropicheskie zemledelie. Moscow, 1968. Pages 417–19.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.