Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Anacardium occidentale
marañón, cashew
Trees or shrubs, 4-10 m tall; branchlets glabrous to subglabrous. Petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade obovate, 8-11 × 6-8.5 cm, leathery, glabrous on both sides, base broadly cuneate, margin entire, apex rounded, truncate to retuse, lateral veins ca. 12 pairs, reticulate venation pattern prominent on both sides. Inflorescence paniculate, 10-20 cm, glabrous to densely grayish sericeous; floral subtending bracts ovate-lanceolate, 5-10 mm, keeled, grayish sericeous abaxially, glabrous adaxially. Flower sessile to shortly pedicellate (WFO, 2022).
It is has environmental uses and social uses, as animal food, a poison, a medicine and invertebrate food and for fuel and food (POWO, 2022).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Sapindales
Family
Anacardiaceae
Genus
Anacardium
Species
occidentale
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Acajuba occidentalis (L.) Gaertn.
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1965
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture
Introduced status: Human dependent
Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Its native range is Trinidad to S. Tropical America (POWO, 2022).
- Lundh, J.P. (1995) Some additional information and comments on the Annotated Check list of Vascular Plants of the Galapagos Islands by Lawesson, Adsersen and Bentley. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Anacardium occidentale", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=1767. Accessed 7 May 2025.