Shrub or tree up to 10 m high; branchlets glabrous. Leaves glabrous; petiole 1–3 cm long; blade broadly obovate to oblong-obovate, 6.5–18 x 3.8–10 cm, obtuse to retuse at the apex, cuneate or rounded at the base, shiny, leathery; midrib and 7–14 pairs of lateral nerves very prominent beneath. Flowers in 10–25 cm long puberulous panicles; bracts 4–10 mm long; sepals 3–5 mm long, puberulous; petals 7–13 mm long, cream to pale reddish, puberulous. Fruit on a very thickened fleshy pedicel, kidney-shaped, 2–3 cm long; seed kidney-shaped.
Range
S2, 3 native of tropical America, now widely cultivated throughout the tropics mainly for its edible seeds (cashew nuts).
Altitude range
coast
Distribution
SOMALIA Thulin 6300; Senni 176; Gorini 258.
Notes
Bibbo (Som.), cashew (Eng.).The seeds must be roasted before eating. Also the fleshy pedicel (cashew apple) is edible, and the fruit-wall yields a valuable oil.
