240 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



In " Johnson's Gardener's Dictionary " edited by Wight and Dewar 

 (1894, p. 892), Cassuvium longifolium is also mentioned as a synonym 

 of Semecarpus anacardium. Referring to the Index Kewensis under 

 the head Cassuvium I find that this last synonym is not mentioned. 

 It appears, however, that according to Rottboll Cassuvium and 

 Anacardium are synonymous. 



Sir Joseph Hooker also mentions Semecarpus latifolius Pers. (ex 

 Marchand), as a synonym of Semecarpus anacardium. ( Flora Br. 

 Ind., Vol. II., p. 31). 



With regard to the habitat of the plant, Dr. Gregg says that it is a 

 native of the mountainous parts of India. Dalzell and Gibson, who 

 knew the Bombay Flora well, say that it is common in the Dekkan 

 and the Konkan, which latter includes the Waree country (Sawant 

 Wadi). Contrast with this the observation of the Rev. Mr. Nairne. 

 He says : li Semecarpus anacardium is said to be common in the 

 Dekkan, Konkan and Gujrat, but I should scarcely call it so" (p. 69, 

 The Flowering Plants of Western India). So far as the Thana dis- 

 trict is concerned, it is very commonly seen in the jungles. Mr. Govindji 

 Narayan, an able indigenous writer, in his Marathi work entitled 

 " Vriksh-varnan" observes that the KJidrvis of Damaun and Surat use 

 the marking-nut for nearly every kind of ailment. 



In describing the Semecarpus anacardium of the Colonies in his 

 "Fragmenta Phytographice Australia" Baron Sir Ferdinand von Muel- 

 ler observes that " the tree grows to a height of even 50 ft. ; and that 

 the fruit is known as the cashew-nut of the Colonies " (p. 23, Vol. 

 VII, 1869-71). It may be observed that the cashew-nut of this 

 country is the Kaju plant {Anacardium occidental). 



The Anacardiacece were formerly classed as a sub-division or sub- 

 order s by Kunth, Wight and Arnott, and DeCandolle, under the 

 Natural Order Terebintacece of Jussieu. In the Genera Plantarum, 

 the Natural Order Anacardiacece, is synonymous with Terehinthacece. 

 lt The Anacards," says Lindley, " are distinctly known by the seeds 

 hanging from the end of a thread, which rises up from the base of the 

 carpels, which in general are solitary, or at least quite distinct, and are 

 sometimes, when quite ripe, placed at the end of an excessively enlarged 

 disk as in the cashew-nut itself" — (Vegetable Kingdom, p. 465,1847). 

 " As an ornamental tree, either in full foliage or before the fall of the 



