6 ms·

Cashew of Pirangi

177 points by tcgv 6y ago

NothingIsReal 6y ago
All it takes is one band of ruffians and a truckful of roundup to destroy. As good as this is for tourism, the risk for that organism can only grow larger and larger now.
- soneca 6y ago
  Why now? It is a famous tourism spot in Brazil for decades and decades
hue3 6y ago
I have been to the location where this cashew tree is. If you are just passing by on the street you can barely notice it is "the cashew tree", for it is so huge it takes up what could be an entire lot. From walking around it, you could think it is several individual trees, because it's branches bend downward, touch the soil, grow new smaller roots there, and then go up again. Also, I was there around 10 years ago, so it may have changed, but back then tourists didn't really go "under/inside" the tree, they were mostly outside the lot, maybe to preserve the tree and avoid possible damage/diseases.
- sushikokk 6y ago
  There are wooden walkways imside but we had to pay a little to enter.
- leafmeal 6y ago
  Generally you don't want to get to close to cashew trees. The seed and other plant parts contain urishiol. This is the same compound in poison oak/ivy that causes allergic reactions. In general people who harvest cashew fruit wear lots of protective clothing. Also, fun fact, the seeds need to be heated before being eaten. There are no truly "raw" cashews at your grocery.
  - 3001 6y ago
    Grew up climbing cashew trees and frying cashew nuts, never have I had an allergic reaction. Any literature on this you can point me to?
    - RobRivera 6y ago
      Literally the wiki page for cashews mentions the compounds in the article. Your anecdotal true life experience may be an anomaly
      - schoen 6y ago
        Seems like it might vary just as much as poison ivy exposure, and for the same reason (or nearly so, since the plants may also have other irritating chemicals that aren't the same between species). Some people are totally immune to poison ivy and don't get any reaction from physical contact with it, although not too many.
      - nkozyra 6y ago
        My comment in this thread might address this. Like most allergens, people have very different reactions to it and can grow tolerance over time with exposure.
    - schoen 6y ago
      I just looked up this Wikipedia page (note: contains slightly disturbing photos of people's skin rashes) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_dermatitis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_derma... and it notes that > People vary greatly in their sensitivity to urushiol. In approximately 15% to 30% of people, urushiol does not trigger an immune system response, while at least 25% of people have a very strong immune response resulting in severe symptoms. I've also heard this about poison ivy. (I assume cashew plants have less of this irritant than poison ivy does.)
      - pmiller2 6y ago
        Yeah, my mom only has to walk past some poison ivy, within a couple of feet, and she will end up with a bit of a rash.
- FelipeCortez 6y ago
  I lived 15 minutes from the tree for most of my life. Really bizarre to see this in the front page of HN! Tourists have been allowed inside the tree for a while now. You can drink cashew juice, there’s a very neat observation platform and a charming wooden pathway. I recommend looking up “maior cajueiro do mundo” for pictures. The Wikipedia article doesn’t do it justice :)
  - nullc 6y ago
    Wikimedia commons has many pictures, including the wooden pathway: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maior_cajueiro_do_mundo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maior_cajueiro_d...
    - simonebrunozzi 6y ago
      I'm surprised there's no proper drone footage.
      - nullc 6y ago
        You can contribute. :)
- vram22 6y ago
  > From walking around it, you could think it is several individual trees, because it's branches bend downward, touch the soil, grow new smaller roots there, and then go up again. The same happens with some banyan trees, in a big way[1]. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan [1] See section "List of historical banyan trees" at above link, and link below. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Banyan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Banyan Also, interestingly (from first link): ' Older banyan trees are characterized by aerial prop roots that mature into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the prop roots develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. The topology of this massive root system inspired the name of the hierarchical computer network operating system "Banyan VINES" '. VINES had directory services before Novell Netware and Microsoft did, and was widely used (pun intended) for a while.
didibus 6y ago
One might miss the tree for the forest.
- oxfeed65261 6y ago
  It seems that in this case the tree essentially is a small forest.
dnh44 6y ago
Cashew fruit (not the nut, which grows on the outside of the fruit), is quite tasty and oddly filling. Try it if you ever have the opportunity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew#/media/File:Cashew_apples.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew#/media/File:Cashew_appl...
- alister 6y ago
  Some more observations about this: - Most Americans & Canadians are completely unaware of the fruit. Some Brazilians are unaware of the nut. I met at least a couple Brazilians (in Sao Paulo and another region that don't have cashew trees) who've eaten the fruit but have never had cashew nuts and didn't even know about the nut! - All this tasty fruit exists above the nut, but--as far as I can tell--no effort is make to export the fruit. It might the problem of creating a market for a new product, or maybe the fruit doesn't travel well. Cashew juice is widely available in Brazil, but I wonder if most of the fruit goes to waste? - Cashew nuts and ironically Brazil nuts are quite pricey in Brazil (at least in Sao Paulo). My thinking is that cashews are perceived as a rich person's snack in Brazil and priced accordingly. This leads to the circular problem that ordinary Brazilians don't eat many cashew nuts because it's expensive, so the domestic market for them stays small and for the affluent.
  - nwatson 6y ago
    You can buy cashew-fruit concentrate in most U.S. grocery stores with a large Latin American selection. Even in Winston-Salem, NC where I live at "Compare Foods" supermarket. It's called "Jugo de Marañón" (juice of cashew). I got in trouble in first grade in Rio de Janeiro (Our Lady of Mercy school). I didn't understand the concept of having to "stay inside the premises". For the first few days I wandered, unknowingly, outside the lower-elementary area, outside the upper-elementary area, outside the high school area. I found the street vendor and bought a hot dog and a "refresco de caju" (cashew drink) those first several days. A nun caught my innocent act and no more hot dogs and caju for lunch.
  - triangleman 6y ago
    Castanhas do Pará (Brazil nuts) are not that expensive in Brazil are they? I'm seeing R$50/kg on an ecommerce site, that's like like $5/lb. I'll try to get a better price quote tomorrow. You can't have too many of them anyway, it can cause quite a movement of the bowels. Caju nuts I'm assuming are expensive because they are mostly exported. It's probably the same as arabica coffee in Colombia, it's too good to consume domestically. Caju fruit you're probably right, does not travel well. Same as açaí, that won't go far without refrigeration or freezing.
dimator 6y ago
Is this a different type of organism than Pando (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree) )? Pando is a "clonal colony" whereas Pirangi is actually a single tree?

177 points by tcgv 6y ago

All it takes is one band of ruffians and a truckful of roundup to destroy. As good as this is for tourism, the risk for that organism can only grow larger and larger now.

soneca 6y ago
Why now? It is a famous tourism spot in Brazil for decades and decades

hue3 6y ago

I have been to the location where this cashew tree is. If you are just passing by on the street you can barely notice it is "the cashew tree", for it is so huge it takes up what could be an entire lot. From walking around it, you could think it is several individual trees, because it's branches bend downward, touch the soil, grow new smaller roots there, and then go up again. Also, I was there around 10 years ago, so it may have changed, but back then tourists didn't really go "under/inside" the tree, they were mostly outside the lot, maybe to preserve the tree and avoid possible damage/diseases.

sushikokk 6y ago
There are wooden walkways imside but we had to pay a little to enter.
leafmeal 6y ago
Generally you don't want to get to close to cashew trees. The seed and other plant parts contain urishiol. This is the same compound in poison oak/ivy that causes allergic reactions. In general people who harvest cashew fruit wear lots of protective clothing. Also, fun fact, the seeds need to be heated before being eaten. There are no truly "raw" cashews at your grocery.
- 3001 6y ago
  Grew up climbing cashew trees and frying cashew nuts, never have I had an allergic reaction. Any literature on this you can point me to?
  - RobRivera 6y ago
    Literally the wiki page for cashews mentions the compounds in the article. Your anecdotal true life experience may be an anomaly
    - schoen 6y ago
      Seems like it might vary just as much as poison ivy exposure, and for the same reason (or nearly so, since the plants may also have other irritating chemicals that aren't the same between species). Some people are totally immune to poison ivy and don't get any reaction from physical contact with it, although not too many.
    - nkozyra 6y ago
      My comment in this thread might address this. Like most allergens, people have very different reactions to it and can grow tolerance over time with exposure.
  - schoen 6y ago
    I just looked up this Wikipedia page (note: contains slightly disturbing photos of people's skin rashes) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_dermatitis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_derma... and it notes that > People vary greatly in their sensitivity to urushiol. In approximately 15% to 30% of people, urushiol does not trigger an immune system response, while at least 25% of people have a very strong immune response resulting in severe symptoms. I've also heard this about poison ivy. (I assume cashew plants have less of this irritant than poison ivy does.)
    - pmiller2 6y ago
      Yeah, my mom only has to walk past some poison ivy, within a couple of feet, and she will end up with a bit of a rash.
FelipeCortez 6y ago
I lived 15 minutes from the tree for most of my life. Really bizarre to see this in the front page of HN! Tourists have been allowed inside the tree for a while now. You can drink cashew juice, there’s a very neat observation platform and a charming wooden pathway. I recommend looking up “maior cajueiro do mundo” for pictures. The Wikipedia article doesn’t do it justice :)
- nullc 6y ago
  Wikimedia commons has many pictures, including the wooden pathway: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maior_cajueiro_do_mundo https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maior_cajueiro_d...
  - simonebrunozzi 6y ago
    I'm surprised there's no proper drone footage.
    - nullc 6y ago
      You can contribute. :)
vram22 6y ago
> From walking around it, you could think it is several individual trees, because it's branches bend downward, touch the soil, grow new smaller roots there, and then go up again. The same happens with some banyan trees, in a big way[1]. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan [1] See section "List of historical banyan trees" at above link, and link below. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Banyan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Banyan Also, interestingly (from first link): ' Older banyan trees are characterized by aerial prop roots that mature into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the primary trunk with age. Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the prop roots develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. The topology of this massive root system inspired the name of the hierarchical computer network operating system "Banyan VINES" '. VINES had directory services before Novell Netware and Microsoft did, and was widely used (pun intended) for a while.

didibus 6y ago

One might miss the tree for the forest.

oxfeed65261 6y ago
It seems that in this case the tree essentially is a small forest.

dnh44 6y ago

Cashew fruit (not the nut, which grows on the outside of the fruit), is quite tasty and oddly filling. Try it if you ever have the opportunity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew#/media/File:Cashew_apples.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew#/media/File:Cashew_appl...

alister 6y ago
Some more observations about this: - Most Americans & Canadians are completely unaware of the fruit. Some Brazilians are unaware of the nut. I met at least a couple Brazilians (in Sao Paulo and another region that don't have cashew trees) who've eaten the fruit but have never had cashew nuts and didn't even know about the nut! - All this tasty fruit exists above the nut, but--as far as I can tell--no effort is make to export the fruit. It might the problem of creating a market for a new product, or maybe the fruit doesn't travel well. Cashew juice is widely available in Brazil, but I wonder if most of the fruit goes to waste? - Cashew nuts and ironically Brazil nuts are quite pricey in Brazil (at least in Sao Paulo). My thinking is that cashews are perceived as a rich person's snack in Brazil and priced accordingly. This leads to the circular problem that ordinary Brazilians don't eat many cashew nuts because it's expensive, so the domestic market for them stays small and for the affluent.
- nwatson 6y ago
  You can buy cashew-fruit concentrate in most U.S. grocery stores with a large Latin American selection. Even in Winston-Salem, NC where I live at "Compare Foods" supermarket. It's called "Jugo de Marañón" (juice of cashew). I got in trouble in first grade in Rio de Janeiro (Our Lady of Mercy school). I didn't understand the concept of having to "stay inside the premises". For the first few days I wandered, unknowingly, outside the lower-elementary area, outside the upper-elementary area, outside the high school area. I found the street vendor and bought a hot dog and a "refresco de caju" (cashew drink) those first several days. A nun caught my innocent act and no more hot dogs and caju for lunch.
- triangleman 6y ago
  Castanhas do Pará (Brazil nuts) are not that expensive in Brazil are they? I'm seeing R$50/kg on an ecommerce site, that's like like $5/lb. I'll try to get a better price quote tomorrow. You can't have too many of them anyway, it can cause quite a movement of the bowels. Caju nuts I'm assuming are expensive because they are mostly exported. It's probably the same as arabica coffee in Colombia, it's too good to consume domestically. Caju fruit you're probably right, does not travel well. Same as açaí, that won't go far without refrigeration or freezing.

dimator 6y ago

Is this a different type of organism than Pando (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree) )? Pando is a "clonal colony" whereas Pirangi is actually a single tree?