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The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of , including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear that are and in some cases produce urushiol, an Irritation. The Anacardiaceae include numerous genera, several of which are economically important, notably cashew (in the type genus Anacardium), mango, Chinese lacquer tree, Spondias mombin, Peruvian pepper, poison ivy, poison oak, sumac, Cotinus, marula and cuachalalate. The genus Pistacia (which includes the pistachio and mastic tree) is now included, but was previously placed in its own family, the Pistaciaceae.
The cashew family is more abundant in warm or tropical regions with only a few species living in the temperate zones. Mostly native to tropical Americas, Africa and India. Pistacia and some species of Rhus can be found in southern Europe, Rhus species can be found in much of North America and Schinus inhabits South America exclusively.
The wood of the Anacardiaceae has the frequent occurrence of simple small holes in the vessels, occasionally in some species side by side with scalariform holes (in Campnosperma, Micronychia, and Heeria argentea ( Anaphrenium argenteum). The simple pits are located along the Vessel element and in contact with the parenchyma.
Leaves are deciduous or evergreen, usually alternate (rarely opposite),Northern United States (1897), page 25 estipulate (without stipule) and imparipinnate (rarely paripinnate or bipinnate), usually with opposite leaflets (rarely alternate), while others are trifoliolate or simple or unifoliolate (very rarely simple leaves are palmate). Leaf architecture is very diverse. Primary venation is pinnate (rarely palmate). Secondary venation is eucamptodromous, brochidodromous, craspedodromous or cladodromous (rarely reticulodromous) Cladodromous venation, if present is considered diagnostic for Anacardiaceae.
Flowers grow at the end of a branch or stem or at an angle from where the leaf joins the stem and have . Often with this family, bisexual and male flowers occur on some plants, and bisexual and female flowers are on others, or flowers have both and Gynoecium (perfect). A calyx with three to seven cleft and the same number of petals, occasionally no petals, overlap each other in the bud. Stamens are twice as many or equal to the number of petals, inserted at the base of the fleshy ring or cup-shaped disk, and inserted below the pistil(s). Stamen stalks are separate, and anthers are able to move. Flowers have the ovary free, but the petals and stamen are borne on the calyx. In the stamenate flowers, ovaries are single-celled. In the pistillate flowers, ovaries are single or sometimes quadri- or quinticelled. One to three styles and one ovule occur in each cavity.
Fruits rarely open at maturity and are most often .
Seed coats are very thin or are crust-like. Little or no endosperm is present. are fleshy. Seeds are solitary with no albumen around the embryo.
Robert Brown described a subset of the Terebintaceae called Cassuvlæ or Anacardeæ in 1818, using the herbarium that was collected by Christen Smith during a fated expedition headed by James Hingston Tuckey to explore the River Congo. The name and genera were based on the order with the same name that had been described by de Jussieu in 1759. The herbarium from that expedition contained only one genus from the family, Rhus.Expedition... (1818) Appendix V, pages 430-431
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1824, used Robert Brown's name Cassuvlæ or Anacardeæ, wrote another description of the group, and filled it with the genera Anacardium, Semecarpus, Holigarna, Mangifera, Buchanania, Pistacia, Astronium, Comocladia, and Picramnia.Prodromus Systematis Naturalis (1824), pages 62-66
John Lindley described the "essential character" of the Anacardiaceæ, the "Cashew Tribe" in 1831, adopting the order that was described by de Jussieu, but abandoning the name Terebintaceæ. He includes the genera that were found in de Candolle's Anacardieæ and Sumachineæ: Anacardium, Holigarna, Mangifera, Rhus, and Mauria.
Some members produce a viscous or adhesive fluid which turns black and is used as a varnish or for tanning and even as a mordant for red dyes. The sap of Toxicodendron vernicifluum is used to make lacquer for lacquerware and similar products.
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