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The candlenut, candleberry, Indian walnut, varnish tree or kuku'i nut tree, Aleurites moluccana ( L.) Willd. (Family Euphorbiaceae) is native to MalesiaMalesia is a biogeographical region straddling the boundary of the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. Malesia was first identified as a floristic province that included the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea, based on a shared tr. Its native range is impossible to establish precisely because of early spread by man, and the tree is now widely distributed in the new and old world tropics. The tree grows to a height of up to 20 m (60 ft), and is ornamental, with widespreading or pendulous branches bearing pale green leaves. The nut is roundish, and furrowed, about 2 (1-4) cm in diameter, and the seed inside has a very hard seed coat and has a high oil content.

The candlenut has many uses:

• It is often used in Malaysian cuisine.
• Several parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine in most of the areas where it is native. The oil is an irritant and purgative and sometimes used like castor oilCastor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (or preferably castor seed as the castor plant Ricinus communis L. is not member of the bean family). Castor oil is extremely versatile and unique in its composition. Castor oil consists for 90%; it has also been used as a hair stimulant. The seed kernels have a laxativeA laxative is a preparation used for the purpose of encouraging defecation, or the elimination of feces. Laxatives are most often taken in response to constipation. They are also sometimes used before medical procedures. They are often abused by bulimics effect. In JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh its barkFor other meanings of bark see Bark (disambiguation). Bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots of woody plants such as trees. It overlays the wood and consists of three layers: the cork, the phloem, and the vascular cambium in other words, most of t has been used on tumorTumor originally just meant "swelling", but the term is very often used to denote abnormal ( malignant or benign) growth of tissue. Malignant tumors ( cancer) invade and destroy neighboring tissues and can become metastatic. Benign tumors do not invade nes. In Sumatra, pounded seeds, burned with charcoal, are applied around the navel for costiveness. In Malaya, the pulped kernels or boiled leaves are used in poultices for headache, fevers, ulcers, swollen joints, and gonnorhea . In Java, the bark is used for bloody diarrhea or dysentery.
• In ancient Hawai‘i, nuts were burned to provide light. This led to their use as a measure of time. The nuts were strung in a row on a palm leaf midrib and one end lit. One could then instruct someone to return home before the second nut burned out.

In Hawai‘i—kuku‘i is the Hawaiian name—the tree has spiritual significance of hope and renewal, and was involved in many legends. One such was about a woman who, despite her best efforts to please her husband, was routinely beaten. Finally, the husband beat her to death and buried her under a kuku'i tree. Being a kind and just woman, she was given new life, and the husband was eventually killed.

Modern cultivation is mostly for the oil. In plantations, each tree will produce 30–80 kg of nuts, and the nuts yield 15 to 20% of their weight in oil. Most of the oil is used locally rather than figuring in international trade.