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Semecarpus anacardium

Semecarpus anacardium, commonly known as the marking nut tree, Malacca bean tree, marany nut, oriental cashew,[2] phobi nut tree and varnish tree,[3] is a native of India, found in the outer Himalayas to the Coromandel Coast. It is closely related to the cashew.[4]

Etymology

Semecarpus anacardium was called the "marking nut" by Europeans because it was used by washermen to mark cloth and clothing before washing, as it imparted a water insoluble mark to the cloth.[5]

The specific epithet anacardium ("up-heart") was used by apothecaries in the 16th century to refer to the plant's fruit. It was later used by Linnaeus to refer to the cashew.[6]

Description

It is a deciduous tree. Like the closely related cashew, the fruit is composed of two parts, a reddish-orange accessory fruit and a black drupe that grows at the end. The nut is about 25 millimetres (1 in) long, ovoid and smooth lustrous black. The accessory fruit is edible and sweet when ripe, but the black fruit is toxic and produces a severe allergic reaction if it is consumed or its resin comes in contact with the skin.[7] The seed inside the black fruit, known as godambi (गोडंबी), is edible when properly prepared.[citation needed]

Uses

Dried fruits

In medieval times, Semecarpus anacardium was thought to aid in memory retention, for which cause the following dictum became widespread among Jewish scholars: "Repeat [your lessons], and repeat [your lessons], but never stand in need of the marking nut!"[8][9]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Semecarpus anacardium.
  1. ^ Lakhey, P. & Pathak, J. (2021). "Semecarpus anacardium". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T149846198A149853817. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  2. ^ Semecarpus anacardium - kidney bean of Malacca
  3. ^ "Semecarpus anacardium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  4. ^ Henriette's Herbal Homepage
  5. ^ "Definition of MARKING NUT". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. ^ Hugh F. Glen (2004). What's in a Name. Jacana. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-77009-040-8. (Greek ana = upwards + kardia = heart); applied by 16th-century apothecaries to the fruit of the marking nut, Semecarpus anacardium, and later used by Linnaeus as a generic name for the cashew.
  7. ^ Semalty, M; Semalty, A; Badola, A; Joshi, GP; Rawat, MS (January 2010). "Semecarpus anacardium Linn.: A review". Pharmacognosy Reviews. 4 (7): 88–94. doi:10.4103/0973-7847.65328. PMC 3249908. PMID 22228947.
  8. ^ Mi-Modena, Yehudah Aryeh (1885). Lev HaAryeh (in Hebrew). Vilnius: Avraham Zvi Katzenelnbogen. p. 1a. OCLC 122874311.
  9. ^ Joseph Molcho, Shulchan Gavohah (Yoreh De'ah 51:6). Quote: "I have heard from those who speak the truth that balador (= the marking nut) is a certain drug whose nature is very hot and that he who eats it endangers himself due to its excessive heat, but it causes an exceptional retainment of one's memory. Now there was a certain wise disciple [of the Sages], here in Thessaloniki, in our own generation, who was extremely erudite and sharp of mind, and who had an exceptional memory, besides being a distinguished physician, who went to Jerusalem in the waning years of his life and died there. My father once told me that he had heard people say that all this ability to memorize came to him because he had fed this drug called balador to one pullet hen, and straightaway he slaughtered it and ate it, and from that moment forward he was a man gifted with an exceptional memory and sharpness, and there was no mystery hidden from him."

Further reading