Trees & Plants

Indian lilac

Hithigas

Azadirachta indica A. Juss.

Common in most of the inhabited islands A multipurpose tree. Timber is very hard and durable. The seed oil has pesticidal and medicinal properties. Oil cake is a m good cattle feed, manure, insecticide and nematicide. The bark and leaves are useful in burning sensation, leprosy,

Details

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uses: A multipurpose tree. Timber is very hard and durable. The seed oil has pesticidal and medicinal properties. Oil cake is a m good cattle feed, manure, insecticide and nematicide. The bark and leaves are useful in burning sensation, leprosy, skin diseases, leucoderma, dyspepsia, ulcers, tuberculosis, boils, eczema and malarial and intermittent fevers. Seeds are used as a remedy for tumours, leprosy, skin diseases, ulcers, constipation and diabetes. a
family: Meliaceae
synonym: Melia azadirachta L.
description: Evergreen trees, to 25 m high; bark greyish-brown, exudation red, sticky. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate; in leaflets 7-15, opposite or sub-opposite, 4.5- × 7.5 1.5-2.5 cm, lanceolate or falcate, base oblique, apex acuminate, margin serrate; lateral nerves 10-18 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent; rachis 14-30 cm long, slender, swollen at base. Flowers 8 mm across, white, in axillary panicles; pedicel 5 mm. Sepals 5, connate at base, ovate, margin ciliate. Petals 5, white, oblong-obovate, pubescent, spreading. Staminal tube 4 mm long, glabrous, apically 10 lobed; anthers 10, slightly exserted, opposite to lobes, sessile. × Fruit a drupe, 1.5 0.5 cm, oblong-ovoid, greenish-yellow; seed one, surrounded by a sweet pulp.
native range: Indian subcontinent
distribution: Indo-Malaysia
english names: Indian lilac · Margosa tree · Neem · Nimbay · Pichumarda
flowering fruiting: February – September
occurrence maldives: Common in most of the inhabited islands