Macadamia is a genus of four species of trees indigenous to Australia, and constituting part of the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland specifically. Three species of the genus are commercially important for their fruit, the macadamia nut /ˌmækəˈdeɪmiə/ (or simply macadamia). Global production in 2015 was 160,000 tonnes (180,000 short tons) Other names include Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut and Hawaii nut.[4] In Australian Aboriginal languages, the fruit is known by names such as bauple, gyndl or jindilli (north of Great Dividing Range) and boombera (south of the Great Range).[citation needed] It was an important source of bushfood for the Aboriginal peoples who are the original inhabitants of the area.

Fresh macadamia nut with husk or pericarp cut in half

Macadamia nut in its shell and a roasted nut

Macadamia nut with sawn nutshell and special key used to pry open the nut
The nut was first commercially produced on a wide scale in Hawaii, where Australian seeds were introduced in the 1880s, and for some time they were the world’s largest producer.[5][6] South Africa has been the world’s largest producer of the macadamia since the 2010s.