ANACARDIACEAE The  Sumac Family

 
 

The Anacardiaceae are characterized by:

 

  • resinous leaves and stems, often aromatic
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  • small 5-merous flowers with a prominent intrasaminal nectary disk
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  • 1-loculed ovary producing a drupaceous fruit
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The Anacardiaceae is a mostly tropical family of about 75 genera and 600 species.  Many members of the family produce resins in the leaves, stems, and fruits that often induce dermatitis in people.  One of the most notorious is poison ivy/oak (Toxicodendron radicans), but sensitized individuals may have similar reactions to pistachios and mangos.

The family is important for the edible seeds ("nuts") of the cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and pistachio (Pistacia vera).  The cashew also provides an edible fruit (cashew apple), but the mango (Mangifera indica) is the most commercially important fruit in this family.  in tropical countries a number of other fruits are widely eaten, including the hog plum or Jamaica plum (Spondias mombin) and kaffir plum (Harpephyllum caffrum).  A few are grown as ornamentals (e.g. smoke tree--Cotinus coggygira--and pepper-tree--Schinus spp.) and a number of genera are used commercially to produce laquers, resins, and tannic acids (e.g. Schinopsis, Toxicodendron, Cotinus spp.)

 

 

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 Site created and maintained by Matthew Willmann and Melissa Luckow Cornell University, Ithaca, New York September 1998