Anacardium occidentale (Cashew)

Native to Trinidad and tropical South America, this evergreen tree reaches about 40 feet tall and is cultivated for its edible seeds. Each seed develops inside a kidney-shaped fruit attached to the fleshy cashew apple, which is an enlarged flower stalk. The juicy apple is eaten fresh or made into juice, jam, and alcoholic drinks. Its flower clusters contain both male and bisexual flowers. The shell contains a corrosive liquid, so the seeds require processing before eating. That liquid also has industrial uses in paints and plastics. It has naturalized in northern Queensland and coastal Northern Territory, Australia, and is invasive on Horn Island in the Torres Strait. Photographed in Panama and Colombia.