Candlenut
Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana) foliage, flowers and nut
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Euphorbiaceae Genus: Aleurites Species: A. moluccana
Binomial name
Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willd.

This article pertains to Candlenut, Candleberry, Indian walnut, Varnish tree or Kukui nut tree, Aleurites moluccana Aleurites moluccana1. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families Family Achariaceae Family Balanopaceae Family Bonnetiaceae Family Caryocaraceae Family Chrysobalanaceae Family Clusiaceae Family Ctenolophonaceae Family Dichapetalaceae Family Elatinaceae Family Erythryloxaceae (coca family) Family Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) Family Euphroniaceae Family Goupiaceae Family Humiriaceae Family Hypericaceae (St Johns wort family) Family Irvingiaceae Family Ixonanthaceae Family Lacistemaceae Family Linaceae (flax family... Genera See text Ref: Euphorbiaceae in The Families of Flowering Plants, as of 2002-07-13 The Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) is a large family of flowering plants with 280 genera and around 6000 species. ... Species See text Aleurites is a small arborescent genus of plants in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, the Pacific and South America, belonging to the Spurge family Euphorbiaceae. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... A painting of Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné  listen, and who wrote under the Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of taxonomy. ...

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"In 1959 the Kukui nut tree became the official state tree of Hawaii. Botanically it is classified aleurites moluccana. Since scientists have found traces of Kukui pollen in ancient geological deposits, it is assumed that the Kukui nut tree is indigenous to Hawaii.

Of all the Hawaiian trees, the Kukui has the lightest colored foliage. Silver-grayish powder on its leaves make it quite conspicuous in the forest and it is easily spotted. Trees grow on the lower slopes of the mountains, mostly in gulches. When cramped in narrow gulches, the trunks grow straight upwards attaining heights of 80 feet or more, with diameters of about 2-1/2 feet. Trees branch 30 feet or more above the ground and at the end of the branches small greenish-tinged white flowers bloom. These flowers, along with the trees distinctive leaves, are often seen entwined in leis.

The fruit of the Kukui is about 2-inches in diameter. The outer part of the fruit is a hard green covering about 1/4-inch thick when immature and as it matures it turns a dark grayish-black and softens. This portion of the fruit decays rapidly after it falls to the ground. Enclosed within are one or two hard, stone like, wrinkled nuts. When young the shell of the nut is whitish in color, but as it matures it turns brown, then black.

THE STORY OF KUKUI NUT OIL

Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiians discovered that when the shells were removed from Kukui nuts and the kernels lightly roasted that a clear oil could be pressed out. This was an excellent penetrating oil and when smoothed on the skin it soothed and softened sunburns and irritations. New born babies were bathed in this easily absorbed oil.

This treasured health and beauty secret has been rediscovered by Oils of Aloha® and is produced today in the same pure form as it was years ago. All vegetable oils are not created equal! Kukui nut oil contains very high levels of the essential fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic. Kukui nut oil is quickly absorbed by the skin. The oil relieves the symptoms of dry skin, psoriasis, eczema and acne. Contains vitamins A, C and E as antioxidants.

KUKUI NUT OIL: QUICK FACTS

* A natural moisturizer, essential for healing dry skin * Quickly penetrates the surface of the skin (not greasy) * Expeller pressed, no solvents used * Incorporates well with other ingredients * Highly polyunsaturated oil with high concentrations of essential "fatty acids" * Supplemented with Vitamin E * Provides effective relief for the symptoms of exceptionally dry skin, psoriasis and eczema"

(Oils of Aloha www.oilsofaloha.com ©1990)

Kukui nut usage:

• It is often used in Malaysian cuisine.
• Several parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine in most of the areas where it is native. The oil is an irritant and purgative and sometimes used like castor oil; it has also been used as a hair stimulant. The seed kernels have a laxative effect. In Japan its bark has been used on tumors. In Sumatra, pounded seeds, burned with charcoal, are applied around the navel for costiveness. In Malaya, the pulped kernels or boiled leaves are used in poultices for headache, fevers, ulcers, swollen joints, and gonorrhea. In Java, the bark is used for bloody diarrhea or dysentery.
• In ancient Hawai‘i, nuts were burned to provide light. This led to their use as a measure of time. The nuts were strung in a row on a palm leaf midrib and one end lit. One could then instruct someone to return home before the second nut burned out.

In Hawai‘i—kuku‘i is the Hawaiian name—the tree has spiritual significance of hope and renewal, and was involved in many legends. One such was about a woman who, despite her best efforts to please her husband, was routinely beaten. Finally, the husband beat her to death and buried her under a kuku'i tree. Being a kind and just woman, she was given new life, and the husband was eventually killed. The cuisine of a country is generally a microcosm of the nation and Malaysian cuisine reflects the multi racial aspects of Malaysia. ... A laxative is a preparation used for the purpose of encouraging defecation, or the elimination of feces. ... Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (or preferably castor seed as the castor plant (Ricinus communis L.) is not a member of the bean family). ... A laxative is a preparation used for the purpose of encouraging defecation, or the elimination of feces. ... BARK (Bin r Automatisk Rel Kalkylator) was completed in February 1950 at a cost of 400. ... See the article about cancer for the main article about malignant tumors. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest part of Indonesia. ... The Federation of Malaya, or in Malay Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, was formed in 1948 from the British settlements of Penang and Malacca and the nine Malay states and replaced the Malayan Union. ... Gonorrhoea (USA spelling: gonorrhea, slang term the clap) is among the most common curable sexually transmitted diseases in the world caused by the Gram-negative bacterium called Neisseria gonorrhoeae. ... Map of Java Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... Diarrhea in American English, (spelled diarrhoea in other anglophone countries) is a condition in which the sufferer has frequent and watery or loose bowel movements (from the ancient Greek word διαρροή = leakage; lit. ... Dysentery is a severe diarrhea illness often associated with blood in the feces. ... Hawaiian is the ancestral language of the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands, the Hawaiians, a Polynesian people. ...

Modern cultivation is mostly for the oil. In plantations, each tree will produce 30–80 kg of nuts, and the nuts yield 15 to 20% of their weight in oil. Most of the oil is used locally rather than figuring in international trade.

External links

• Oils of Aloha (http://www.oilsofaloha.com) – A Hawaii company producing kukui and macadamia nut products, their website plays host to much information about both nuts.