PLANTS WHOSE SEEDS WE EAT 117 



commonly in use. Several triangular nuts grow 

 in a solid woody case as big as a man's head. 



Pistachio-nuts are the seeds of a sumach tree, . 

 native to Asia Mi$or. The pale green kernels 

 are enclosed in a thin, two-parted shell, which is 

 easily opened when the nuts are dried. They are 

 oily and have an agreeable flavor. Quantities 

 of the nuts are consumed by the people of India. 

 Americans use them in confectionery and for 

 flavoring and coloring ice creams and other fancy 

 desserts. They are also used as salted nuts. 



A related sumach yields the lacquer of Japanese 

 boxes, an unexcelled varnish, shiny and black, made 

 from the sap of the trees. The leaves of another 

 yield tanning material, used in making the finest 

 of leathers. Wax is another useful product of the 

 sap of certain sumach species. 



Cashew-nuts are queer, kidney-shaped, or U- 

 shaped nuts, in hard shells, each borne as a small 

 appendage below the fleshy-colored stalk, that 

 might be mistaken for the fruit. The trees which 

 are large, and look like walnuts, are chiefly West 

 Indian and tropical American species. The nuts 

 are exported to other tropical countries, and are 

 coming to be used now in the United States, where 

 they are roasted in oil and salted like almonds. 



Cocoanuts are described under Palms. 



