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Moringaceae

W/C = Wild Collected
Moringa oleifera Lam.

  • Query IPNI
  • Common Name: Horseradish Tree, Moringo
  • Family: Moringaceae Dumort.

  • Country of Origin: India although widely cultivated in Old World tropics
  • Habitat: southern foothills of the Himalaya

  • Description: [Syn. Moringa pterygosperma, M. aptera]

    Deciduous tree to about 20 feet; leaves sub-pinnate; flowers yellow, upper petiole whitish. Develops a large caudexed base with age.

  • Uses: Root is scraped when young and used by the natives as Horseradish as in Europe; leaves are used in vegetable curries and in pickles; unripe pods are used as a curry vegetable, boiled and sliced like beans; flowers and bark are used in native medicine; seeds yield valuable Oil of Ben used in artist's paints, salad oil and soap. Timber suited for pulp for cellophane or rayon.

    Recent research indicates some compounds in the seeds and fruit of this plant have a purifying effect on water. Other compounds have been shown to have promising antibiotic activity.

Images of this accession: {and/or its current location}

 

Accession Data:

  • Accession # 199700027
  • Source: Banana Tree
  • Recorded Vouchers: CONN Accession #: 129179
  • Accession Date: 04-01-1997
  • Bench: 1203 - AUS:India C
  • Qty: 2 confirmed on 11-18-2009
Classification:

  • Division: Magnoliophyta
  • Class: Magnoliopsida
  • SubClass: eurosid II
  • Order: Brassicales
  • SubOrder:
  • Family: Moringaceae
  • SubFamily:
  • Tribe:
  • SubTribe:
References:

  1. Mark Olson's Moringa Homepage at Missouri Botanic Gardens
  2. RHS Dictionary of Gardening, 1984
  3. The Plant Book, Mabberley, 1987

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