RELATIVES OF THE MANGO 149 



At the present time the cashew is common on the mainland 

 of tropical America from Mexico to Peru and Brazil. It is 

 abundant also in the West Indies. In Africa it is found on 

 both the east and west coasts, and in Madagascar. In southern 

 India it has become thoroughly naturalized in many of the 

 coastal forests. It is grown in the Malay Archipelago, and is 

 said to be abundant in Tahiti. In Hawaii it is not very 

 common. 



Regarding its occurrence in India, Dymock, Warden, and 

 Hooper (Pharmacographia Indica) say : 



"It was not known in Goa A.D. 1550; but Christopher a 

 Costa saw it in Cochin shortly after this. ... In 1653 only 

 a few trees existed on the Malabar coast; since then it has 

 become completely naturalized ^n the western coast, but is 

 nowhere so abundant as in the Goa territory, where it yields a 

 very considerable revenue. It is planted upon the low hilly 

 ridges which intersect the country in every direction, and which 

 are too dry and stony for other crops. The cultivation gives 

 no trouble, tne jungle being simply cut down to make room for 

 the plants." 



In the United States the culture of this tree is limited to the 

 coast of Florida, south of Palm Beach and Punta Gorda, approx- 

 imately. There are sturdy fruiting trees both at Palm Beach 

 and Miami. In California all experiments up to the present 

 time have indicated that the climate is not warm enough for it. 



In Mexico and Central America the cashew is common on 

 the seacoast but is rarely found at elevations higher than 3000 

 feet. At altitudes of 5000 or 6000 feet the climate appears to 

 be too cool for the tree. 



The English name cashew is an adaptation of the Portuguese 

 caju. The latter was taken by the earliest settlers in Brazil 

 from the Tupi name acaju. In the Spanish-speaking countries 

 of tropical America the usual name is maranon, presumably 

 from the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The name pajuil is 



