The macadamia tree is one of the oldest food plants on Earth. Fossil records suggest these trees have existed in the rainforests of eastern Australia for millions of years, and Aboriginal Australians have been harvesting and eating the nuts for at least 5,000 years.
Aboriginal Heritage
Known as 'kindal kindal' or 'bauple nut' by Indigenous communities, macadamias were a prized seasonal food. Aboriginal groups would gather during harvest season for festivals and ceremonies centred around the nut. They developed techniques for cracking the extremely hard shells using stones, and the nuts were an important source of fat and energy.
European Discovery
The macadamia was first described by European botanists in 1857. German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller named the genus Macadamia after his friend Dr John Macadam, a Scottish-born chemist and politician in Melbourne. It was one of the few native Australian food plants to be commercialised globally.
A Global Journey
From Australia, the macadamia travelled to Hawaii in the 1880s, where it found ideal growing conditions and eventually became a major commercial crop. Today, macadamia trees grow across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, from South Africa and Zimbabwe to Central America and parts of Asia.