Etymology- Anacardium occidentalis

nivi tha

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Jul 20, 2010, 5:15:50 AM7/20/10

to efloraofindia, tanay bose

Etymology no.19. Anacardium occidentale

Anacardium - heart shape(Referring to the shape of the fruit)

occidentale- Western

Synonym- Anacardium curatellifolium

--
Selvalakshmi S.
Doctoral Scholar,
Bhjarathiar Universtiy,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

tanay bose

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Jul 20, 2010, 8:28:45 AM7/20/10

to nivi tha, efloraofindia

Thanks for the information
tanay

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Tanay Bose
+91(033) 25550676 (Resi)
9830439691(Mobile)

R. Vijayasankar

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Jul 20, 2010, 11:16:51 AM7/20/10

to indiatreepix, nivi tha

One more explanation from the link: http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/amon_lies/

Anacardium occidentale gets its name from the Greed words "Ana-", meaning "without", and "cardium", meaning "a heart." Occidentale is Latin for "from the west." As the name suggests, this plant is native to the Western Hemisphere. The genus name is actually more specific, referring to how the pulp of the fruit has the nut growing outside of it rather than inside!

With regards

Vijayasankar

tanay bose

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Jul 20, 2010, 11:18:12 AM7/20/10

to R. Vijayasankar, indiatreepix, nivi tha

Thanks for the Info Vijaya Ji
Tanay

Satish Phadke

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Jul 21, 2010, 9:44:48 AM7/21/10

to R. Vijayasankar, indiatreepix, nivi tha

Actually another dictionary describes it differently as follows.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anacardium

Anacardium

An`a*car"di*um\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? similar to + ? heart; -- the fruit of this plant being thought to resemble the heart of a bird.] (Bot.) A genus of plants including the cashew tree.

Dinesh Valke

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Jul 21, 2010, 9:49:21 AM7/21/10

to R. Vijayasankar, indiatreepix, nivi tha

Vijayasankar ji ... is it not the swollen stem that is considered as fruit, while the nut itself is the fruit ?
Regards.

On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 8:46 PM, R. Vijayasankar <vijay.b...@gmail.com> wrote:

R. Vijayasankar

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Jul 21, 2010, 7:11:43 PM7/21/10

to Dinesh Valke, indiatreepix, nivi tha

u r right Dinesh ji.

The fleshy, juicy, attractive, fruit-like structure (known as 'cashew apple'; also edible when ripe) is actually the enlarged pedicel i.e. flower-stalk. Since it is not formed from ovary, botanically it is a pseudocarp i.e. 'false fruit'. Its job is to attract (a reward to) seed dispersors. Whereas, the 'real fruit' is the kidney-shaped hard shell (drupe) which contains the edible 'nut'.

With regards

Vijayasankar

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