CASHEW 



407 



occidentale (Fam. Anacardiacese), a tree indigenous to the West 

 Indies and extensively cultivated in the tropics. The leaves are 

 alternate and ovate and the flowers are red, very fragrant and borne 

 in terminal panicles. The fruit (Fig. 174) consists of a fleshy, pear- 

 shaped receptacle having at its summit the kidney-shaped, drupa- 

 ceous nut; the latter is about 3.5 cm. in length, 2 cni in breadth 



FIG. 174. West Indian Cashew: The fruits are fleshy, complex, somewhat 

 pear-shaped, consisting of the fleshy receptacle (P), having at the summit 

 the reniform drupaceous fruits OS). After Alacan. 



and thickness; of a very dark brown color, nearly smooth; easily 

 cut; pericarp about 4 mm. in thickness, containing large ellipsoidal 

 balsam-canals; the seed is reniform, having a thick reddish-brown 

 seed-coat and enclosing a large embryo. 



Inner Structure. Epicarp consisting of a row of palisade-like 

 stone cells, containing a brownish amorphous substance; the meso- 



