CHAPTER IV 

 RELATIVES OF THE MANGO 



WHILE the mango is the leading fruit of the Anacardiacese or 

 Cashew family, yet other species are more or less cultivated 

 and should be briefly discussed here. The family comprises 

 as a whole some 400 species in about 60 genera, widely dis- 

 tributed over the earth, mostly in warm countries. Some of the 

 species (as poison ivy and sumac) are poisonous; but it is 

 probable that it comprises many comestible products of value. 

 The pistachio-nut is one of them. 



THE CASHEW (Fig. 22) 

 (Anacardium occidental, L.) 



The Brazilians are the only people who fully appreciate the 

 cashew. Father J. S. Tavares, whose studies of Brazilian 

 fruits are probably the most exhaustive as well as the most 

 interesting which have been published, says of this tree : " It 

 furnishes food and household remedies to the poor, a refreshing 

 beverage to the sick, a sweetmeat for tables richly served, 

 and resin and good timber for industrial uses." 



The readiness with which the cashew grows and fruits in a 

 semi-wild state has kept it from receiving the horticultural 

 attention which other and more delicate species have enjoyed. 

 In nearly all regions where it is grown, it is more common as a 

 naturalized plant than in the fruit garden. It does not object 

 to such treatment, but multiplies rapidly, grows vigorously, 

 and yields abundantly of its handsome fruit. 



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