Macadamia

Description

Macadamia integrifolia is a small to medium-sized tree, growing to 15 metres in height. Native to rainforests in south east Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. Common names include macadamia, smooth-shelled macadamia, bush nut, Queensland nut and nut oak. Macadamia integrifolia leaves are simple, oblong in shape, glossy, entire with wavy leaf margins and are 20 cm long and 10 cm wide. The flowers are white or pink followed by woody, edible rounded fruits which are 2 to 3.5 cm in diameter. This tree is rarely cultivated for ornamental purposes. It has been introduced to Mexico and has done well in the states of Michoacán and Jalisco. The trees will survive in hardiness zones 10 and 11. Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia, native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Two species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes (180,000 short tons). Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and Hawaii nut. In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl or jindilli (north of Great Dividing Range) and boombera (south of the Great Range). It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who are the original inhabitants of the area. Fresh macadamia nut with husk or pericarp cut in half Macadamia nut in its shell and a roasted nut Macadamia nut with sawn nutshell and special key used to pry open the nut The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and for some time they were the world's largest producer. South Africa has been the world's largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s. Macadamia is an evergreen genus that grows 2–12 m (7–40 ft) tall. The leaves are arranged in whorls of three to six, lanceolate to obovate or elliptic in shape, 60–300 mm (2–10 in) long and 30–130 mm (1–5 in) broad, with an entire or spiny-serrated margin. The flowers are produced in a long, slender, simple raceme 50–300 mm (2–10 in) long, the individual flowers 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long, white to pink or purple, with four tepals.