Cashew Nut Tree
Anacardium occidentale
📖 About this plant
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a tropical evergreen tree in the Anacardiaceae family (alongside mango, pistachio, and poison ivy), famous both for its delicious kidney-shaped nuts and the unique “cashew apple” — a swollen fruit stalk that resembles a yellow or red pear. Native to northeast Brazil, where indigenous peoples used it for centuries, cashew was introduced to India and Africa by the Portuguese in the 16th century and has thrived so well that India is today one of the worlds largest producers and exporters of cashew nuts — especially from Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. The cashew tree is medium-sized with leathery dark green leaves, small fragrant yellow-pink flowers, and one of the most unusual fruit structures in the plant kingdom: a fleshy edible “cashew apple” (technically the swollen pedicel/receptacle) topped with the true fruit — a hard kidney-shaped drupe containing the cashew nut. The cashew apple is sweet, juicy, and slightly astringent, eaten fresh or made into juices, jams, chutneys, and the famous Goan cashew feni (a distilled liquor). The cashew nut itself is hidden inside a hard shell that contains a caustic oil (cardol and anacardic acid — similar to poison ivy urushiol) which means cashews are NEVER sold in-shell and must be carefully processed (roasted, steamed, or boiled) to neutralize the oil before the edible kernel is extracted. Cashews are nutritional powerhouses — rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, plant protein, dietary fiber, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, and antioxidants. They are eaten roasted and salted as a snack, used in Indian curries (especially Mughlai and Goan cuisine — cashew paste thickens and enriches curries), in desserts (kaju katli — diamond-shaped cashew fudge), and ground into cashew butter. The wood is used for furniture and the bark yields a gum used in bookbinding.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Full sun
Drought-tolerant; water regularly when young
Moderate to high (60-85%)
22-35°C
Sandy well-draining; pH 5.0-6.5
Balanced NPK 2-3 times per year
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Brazil (northeast)
- 📏 Max height
- 6-12 m
- 📐 Spread
- 4-8 m
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Winter to spring; small fragrant yellow-pink flowers
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Yellow-green with pink blush
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Dark green leathery oval leaves
- ⏳ Lifespan
- 30-40 years
- 📈 Growth rate
- Fast — fruits in 3-5 years
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Cashew shell oil (urushiol-like) is caustic — handle raw nuts with gloves
- 🌱 Propagation
- Seeds, grafting, air layering
🛡️ Health & Safety
Common issues
- Cashew nut tree borer, tea mosquito bug, stem and root borer (most destructive pest), powdery mildew, anthracnose, leaf spot, gummosis, cashew apple fly, sunscald on young fruits
💡 Care tips
- Plant in full sun in sandy well-draining soil — cashews tolerate poor soils and are drought-tolerant once established. Plant seeds (whole raw cashew in shell, if obtainable) or grafted/air-layered trees. Space trees 7-10 m apart. Water regularly for the first 2-3 years; mature trees are deeply drought-tolerant. Mulch heavily. Apply balanced fertilizer 2-3 times per year. Prune young trees to develop a strong framework of 3-4 main branches; mature trees need little pruning. Trees begin fruiting in 3-5 years from seed, 2-3 years from grafts. The cashew harvest has two stages: first harvest the cashew apples (when bright red or yellow, sweet, and slightly soft), then carefully separate and dry the attached nut (in shell) in the sun for 2-3 days. NEVER crack raw cashew shells bare-handed — the caustic oil causes severe skin burns. Roast shells at 180°C for 20-30 minutes OUTDOORS (the fumes are toxic) to neutralize the oil and crack open to extract the edible kernel. A mature tree yields 20-50 kg of raw nuts per year plus abundant cashew apples. Trees produce for 30+ years with proper care.
