A tropical tree. LOL

Magnolia? Hard to tell the size of the leaves.

Kumquat

Yes. No. No.

A pomegranate tree

Nope.

Oh! It's a pistachio tree! I can tell by the fruits and the nut is on the top of the fruit. It pays to watch Andrew Zimmern, LOL!

Blessings,
Haley

CASHEW! I posted too soon!

Bingo! Hale Bopp got it right.

It's a cashew tree.

And here's what the ripe fruit looks like close up.

That's the cashew nut on top. The fruit is so large that you can only harvest a small amount of nuts per tree. Now you know why they are so expensive.

Jodi-

Yaaaaay! I was so excited that I knew the answer, for some stupid reason I posted the wrong nut first, LOL! Apparently they make a soda out of the fruit juice where they grow- it looks like Mountain Dew. And the fruit doesn't ship well which is why we don't see it in our stores. :(

Blessings,
Haley (Who ALWAYS posts before she thinks) :/

Thanks, Jodi. I learned something new today. So, the apple-like thing the nut is attached to the top of is edible, too?? What is it called? And, yes, I won't complain about the cost of cashews ever again!!

Patti, the fruit of the cashew tree is called a Caju.

I knew about the Cashew tree before I went to Mexico but to actually see the odd fruit is really something.

Jodi-

Here is a link that might be useful: Cashew tree info

very interesting! The leaves and their placement look very similar to what us northerners call a "smoke tree". I thought that they may be in the same genus, but just looked it up and they aren't. I was hoping to start 'bragging' about my non-fruit bearing cashew :)

wow I learned something from this thread! I love learning new things LOL
from the link listed above:
"Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the nut of the cashew is a seed. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid, a potent skin irritant chemically related to the more well known allergenic oil urushiol which is also a toxin found in the related poison ivy. Properly roasting cashews destroys the toxin, however it must be done outdoors as the smoke (not unlike that from burning poison ivy) contains urushiol droplets which can cause severe, sometimes life-threatening reactions by irritating the lungs. People who are allergic to cashew urushiols may also react to mango or pistachio which are also in the Anacardiaceae family. Some people are allergic to cashew nuts, but cashews are a less frequent allergen than nuts or peanuts"

Wow...what a great thread! Thanks for teaching us something new, I would have never guessed that. I love cashews but now have a new understanding as to the cost etc.

wow! I had no idea! Very interesting information

mmy favorite nut

Thanks Jodi!!
That is so cool