Common Name(s): Cashew
Scientific Name: Anacardium occidentale
Distribution: Central and South America
Average Dried Weight: 34.9 lbs/ft3 (560 kg/m3)
Janka Hardness: 770 lbf (3,410 N)*
*Estimated hardness based on specific gravity
Comments: Cashew is much more well known for its edible nuts, and not for its wood. Many parts of the tree, such as the bark, fruit, and the shells of the nuts, contain strong skin irritants—similar in effect to poison ivy (both are in the Anacardiaceae family). The wood is a sensitizer, and has been known to cause skin irritation and blisters in some circumstances.
Note: This is a truncated profile page. If you have any helpful info or experience with this wood species, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to integrate any relevant data when I expand the page. ~Eric
Images: Drag the slider up/down to toggle between raw and finished wood.
There are currently no pictures of this exact wood species, but a similar species within the Anacardium genus is being substituted espave (A. excelsum). If you’d like to contribute a wood sample for this webpage, please see the contact form for donating wood samples.
Identification: See the article on Hardwood Anatomy for definitions of endgrain features.
Related Content:
Cashew is native to Asia, not South and Central America
Do you have any references to support this? Everything I’ve seen says that it’s native to Americas and was later introduced to Asia (and Africa). Even the species name itself “occidentale” means western (e.g., occident vs orient).
Cashew was introduced to much of Asia by the Portuguese. It originated in the Amazon, in South America.