Kemiri

The tree which bears the nuts is a native of Australia, where the aborigines have no doubt enjoyed the nuts since long ago. But it was only in the latter part of the nineteenth century that it was ‘discovered’ and exploited. Many Australian homesteads have such trees, to provide shade, ornament and food. The candlenut tree has also been introduced to South Africa, the West Indies, parts of the southern United States and Hawaii. It is in Hawaii that production of the Macadamia nuts, as they are known there, is most highly developed and on the biggest scale.