Deane Stahmann Jr. passes the torch

The changing of the guard marks the end of an era ....

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INAUGURAL DEANE STAHMANN SCHOLARSHIP OPEN

The Deane Stahmann scholarship was established in 2008 to provide Australian pecan growers ....

About Macadamias

Although native to Australia, the Macadamia nut was first commercialised in Hawaii in 1948. Australian growers, however, now produce some 40% of the world's kernel. Global production of Macadamias for 2004 was 21,850 tonnes of kernel, with Australia and Hawaii between them producing a full two thirds of this total and the remainder being grown in China, Africa and Central America. Macadamias remain quite a specialty in the context of the overall nut market, contributing only 2% of total world nut sales.

Just as Pecans were a staple food of the North American native peoples, so Macadamias were relished by Australian aborigines for centuries before their discovery by Europeans. In the 1850's these luxuriant green trees came to the notice of British botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller and Walter Hill, Director of the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane.

The genus Macadamia (named after Dr John McAdam, a prominent scientist of that time) contains two prominent species, the smooth-shelled integrifolia and the rough-shelled tetraphylla. It is the former which has formed the basis of the modern commercial industry.

The Macadamia nut is the only Australian native plant which constitutes a commercial horticultural crop. Whilst few are now found in the wild, Macadamia trees are cultivated from Nambucca heads in New South Wales to the Atherton Tablelands in northern Queensland.

Macadamia trees grow slowly to heights of 12 to 15 metres. They have shiny dark green leaves, and bear sprays (racemes) of long, delicate, sweet-smelling white or pink blossoms. Each spray of 40 - 50 flowers produces from four to fifteen 'nutlets' which will eventually ripen into nuts.

The nuts themselves grow encased in a hard, woody shell, which is protected by a green-brown fibrous husk. In its natural state a Macadamia tree will have flowers, nutlets and mature nuts growing simultaneously, in profusion for much of the year. The nuts fall to the ground between March and September each year and are harvested by pin wheel harvesters at regular intervals.

For more information visit the Australian Macadamia Society website at www.macadamias.org.

See our Recipes area for some great ideas for using Macadamias.