Macadamia nuts

MACADAMIA nuts (or simply macadamias) come from the macadamia tree, which is native to the eastern parts of Australia. Long before the British colonised the continent in the 18th century, the nut was an important source of nutrition for the Aboriginal people, who call it kindal kindal.

In 1857, German-born botanist Ferdinand von Mueller named the plant macadamia after his friend Dr John McAdam, a Scottish scientist who first promoted its cultivation.

Walter Hill, superintendent of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, was surprised to see a boy eating a nut kernel from the macadamia tree in 1858. When he saw that