Candlenut

The candlenut, Aleurites moluccanus, is a tree in the spurge family first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, growing to about 30 meters and bearing drupe fruit that contain oily nuts, known as kukui in Hawaii and kemiri in Indonesia and Malaysia. The raw nut is mildly toxic, containing saponins and phorbol compounds, but becomes safe once cooked or toasted, and is used in Indonesian and Malaysian curries and, roasted and mixed with salt as inamona, in traditional Hawaiian poke. In old Hawaii the nuts were burned for light and used to mark time, and candlenut oil has also been used in cosmetics, dyes, varnishes and tattoo ink across the Pacific and Southeast Asia; the tree was named Hawaii's state tree on May 1, 1959, for its many uses.