The cashew tree is a tropical evergreen tree that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as 14 metres and the one here in the garden is huge. When ripe, the whole thing falls off the tree, and the bottom part is gathered for processing. The false fruit (called cashew fruit or cashew apple) is edible, but it is very perishable . It is often left to rot, but can be eaten raw, cooked, or used to make a liquor called feni. Truly raw cashews are still in their shell, which cannot be eaten . Even cashews sold as raw have been roasted once after being carefully harvested and shelled to remove any toxic oil residue