Macadamia

Macadamia integrifolia × tetraphylla 'Beaumont'

tree

Macadamia is a glossy, broad-leaved subtropical evergreen, 30 to 40 ft in the ground, grown for round nuts with an extremely hard shell and a rich, buttery kernel. The popular 'Beaumont' is a hybrid of Macadamia integrifolia and M. tetraphylla, prized for its showy pink flowers, precocious bearing, and nuts that crack a little more easily than most. It is frost-tender and wants a mild, frost-free, humid climate - true outdoor culture is limited to the warmest zones, though it can be grown in a large container and sheltered over winter. Beaumont bears young for a macadamia, often in about 3 to 5 years, and then crops for many decades, dropping mature nuts to the ground for gathering.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Comfrey: A nutrient accumulator for a mulch ring around the shallow-rooted tree
• Clover: A living nitrogen-fixing groundcover for the orchard floor
• Sweet Potato: A sprawling groundcover that shades and protects the soil in warm climates

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts. Tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Macadamia felted coccid →

  A serious scale-like pest that feeds on shoots and can kill trees; monitor closely, prune out heavily infested wood, and conserve natural enemies

• Tropical nut borer →

  Bores into maturing nuts; harvest dropped nuts promptly and clear old nuts that harbor the pest

• Phytophthora root rot →

  Plant in sharply drained soil, never let roots sit wet, and avoid piling mulch against the trunk

🌾 Harvest & storage

Macadamias ripen over a long season and signal readiness by falling to the ground; gather them every week or two rather than picking from the tree. Remove the leathery green husk within a day, then dry the in-shell nuts slowly in a warm, airy place for one to several weeks until the kernel rattles and turns crisp. The shell is famously hard - a dedicated macadamia cracker or vise is needed. Dried nuts store well in the shell.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Macadamias are the richest of the common tree nuts, very high in healthy monounsaturated fats with a delicate, buttery flavor, eaten raw or roasted and pressed for a fine oil. In a frost-free garden the tree is also a dense, handsome evergreen shade tree. Where winters bring frost, treat it as a container specimen that summers outdoors and winters under cover.