Anacardiaceae

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family of flowering plants commonly known as the cashew, poison ivy, and mango, which often bear edible fruits and can include toxic species
2. This botanical group includes species that provide important agricultural products like cashews and mangoes, while some members can be harmful to humans
3. Characterized as a diverse family of trees, shrubs, and vines, it contains both economically significant food sources and plants with irritating properties

Etymology: Anacardiaceae is the botanical name for the cashew family, and it is a textbook coinage rather than an ancient word. It was formed from "Anacardium," the genus name for the cashew tree, which itself comes from a Latinized form of a Greek-derived term meaning roughly "heart-shaped" or "upward-facing," a reference to the shape of the cashew nut and its fruit. The "-aceae" ending is the standard suffix that botanists add to a genus name to name a plant family, so the word is simply the cashew genus with that family marker attached. Like other family names in biology, it follows a set convention: the family is named after one of its genera, and the suffix signals rank. Many plants in this family, including mangoes, pistachios, and poison ivy, are grouped under it on the strength of shared traits, even though their common names have little to do with cashews.

Synonyms: cashew family, sumac family