View source for Melia azedarach

{{otheruses|Chinaberry (disambiguation)}}
{{ Taxobox
 | image = Melia azedarach 02.JPG
 | image_width = 240px
 | image_caption = Leaves, flowers, and fruit
 | regnum = [[Plant]]ae
 | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
 | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
 | ordo = [[Sapindales]]
 | familia = [[Meliaceae]]
 | genus = ''[[Melia (plant)|Melia]]''
 | species = '''''M. azedarach'''''
 | binomial = ''Melia azedarach''
 | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]<ref>Linneas, C. (1753)</ref>
 | synonyms = 
''Melia australis'' <small>Sweet</small><br />
''Melia candollei'' <small>Sw.</small><br />
''Melia japonica'' <small>G.Don</small><br />
''Melia sempervirens'' <small>Sw.</small><br />
<!-- and oogles of others - search for the species names to get lists. -->
}}
[[Image:Starr 040514 0266 melia azedarach.jpg|thumb|right|Feral Chinaberry at [[Keokea, Maui|Keokea]], [[Maui]], [[Hawaii]]. Large trees like this can be profitably used for timber.]]
'''''Melia azedarach''''' is a species of [[deciduous]] [[tree]] in the [[Swietenia mahagoni|mahogany]] [[family (biology)|family]], [[Meliaceae]], that is native to [[India]], southern [[China]] and [[Australia]]. Common names include '''Persian Lilac''', '''White Cedar''', '''Chinaberry''', '''Bead Tree''', '''Lunumidella''', '''Ceylon Cedar''' and '''malai vembu''' (மலை வேம்பு). In [[South Africa]] it is commonly but erroneously called Syringa, which is in fact the [[Syringa|lilac genus]]. The genus ''Melia'' includes four other species, occurring from southeast [[Asia]] to northern [[Australia]]. They are all deciduous or semi-[[evergreen]] trees.
[[Image:Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) eating Bakain (Melia Azadirachta) berries at Roorkee, Uttarakhand W IMG 9016.jpg|thumb|left| Indian Grey Hornbill ''[[Ocyceros birostris]]'' eating its fruit at [[Roorkee]] in  [[Haridwar]] District of [[Uttarakhand]], [[India]]. ]]

The adult tree has a rounded crown, and measures between 7 and 12 metres in height. The [[flower]]s are small and fragrant, with five pale purple or lilac petals, growing in clusters. The [[fruit]] is a [[drupe]], marble-sized, light yellow at maturity, hanging on the tree all winter, and gradually becoming wrinkled and almost white. In [[Australian]] [[rainforests]], ''Melia azedarach'' can attain a height of 45 metres.<ref>Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 1989, ISBN 0-909605-57-2</ref>

[[Image:Bakain (Melia Azadirachta) leaves & green fruit at Kolkata W IMG 8039.jpg|thumb|left|leaves & green fruit in  [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. ]]
The [[leaf|leaves]] are up to 50 cm long, alternate, long-petioled, 2 or 3 times compound (odd-pinnate); the [[leaflet]]s are dark green above and lighter green below, with serrate margins. They have been used as a natural [[insecticide]] to keep with stored [[food]], but must not be eaten as they are highly [[poison]]ous. A diluted [[infusion]] of leaves and trees has been used in the past to induce [[uterus]] relaxation.

==Uses and ecology==
The main utility of chinaberry is its timber. This is of medium density, and ranges in colour from light brown to dark red. In appearance it is readily confused with the unrelated Burmese Teak (''[[Tectona grandis]]''). ''Melia azedarach'' in keeping with other members of the family [[Meliaceae]] has a timber of high quality, but as opposed to many almost-[[extinct]] species of [[mahogany]] it is under-utilised. [[Wood drying|Seasoning]] is relatively simple in that planks dry without cracking or warping and are resistant to fungal infection. Also known as ''Ghoda neem'' (''Ghoda'' meaning horse) in Bengali and ''Vilayati'' (foreign) neem in Bundelkhand region, ''Dharek'' in Punjab region and ''Bakain'' in East Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand region of India. The taste of the leaves are not so bitter as [[Neem]] (''Azaderachta indica'').  

The hard, 5-grooved seeds were widely used for making [[rosary|rosaries]] and other products requiring [[bead]]s, before their replacement by modern [[plastic]]s.

The flowers are unattractive to [[bee]]s and [[Butterfly|butterflies]]. Though some hummingbirds like [[Sapphire-spangled Emerald]] (''Amazilia lactea''), [[Glittering-bellied Emerald]] (''Chlorostilbon lucidus'') and [[Planalto Hermit]] (''Phaethornis pretrei'') have been recorded to feed on and pollinate the flowers, these too only take it opportunistically.<ref>Baza Mendonça & dos Anjos (2005)</ref>

===Toxicity===
Fruits are poisonous to [[human]]s if eaten in quantity.<ref>Russell ''et al.'' (1997)</ref> However, like the [[taxus|Yew]] tree, these toxins are not harmful to birds, who gorge themselves on the fruit, eventually reaching a "drunken" state.  The toxins are [[neurotoxin]]s and unidentified resins, found mainly in the fruits. Some [[bird]]s are able to eat the fruit, spreading the [[seed]]s in their droppings. The first symptoms of poisoning appear a few hours after ingestion. They may include loss of appetite, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, bloody faeces, stomach pain, pulmonary congestion, [[cardiac arrest]], rigidity, lack of coordination and general weakness. Death may take place after about 24 hours. Like in relatives, [[tetranortriterpenoid]]s consititute an important toxic principle. These are chemically related to [[Azadirachtin]], the primary [[insecticide|insecticidal]] compound in the commercially important [[Neem]] oil. These compounds are probably related to the wood and seed's resistance to pest infestation, and maybe to the unattractiveness of the flowers to animals.

===As invasive species===
The plant was introduced around 1830 as an ornamental in the [[United States]] ([[South Carolina]] and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]) and widely planted in southern states. Today it is considered an [[invasive species]] by some groups as far north as [[Virginia]] and [[Oklahoma]].<ref>Langeland & Burks</ref> But [[Nursery (horticulture)|nurseries]] continue to sell the trees, and seeds are also widely available. It has become naturalized to tropical and warm temperate regions of [[the Americas]] and is planted in similar climates around the world. Besides the problem of toxicity, its usefulness as a shade tree in urban areas is diminished by its tendency to sprout where unwanted and to turn sidewalks into dangerously slippery surfaces when the fruits fall, though this is not a problem where songbird populations are in good shape. As noted above, the possibility of commercially profitable harvesting of feral stands remains largely unexplored.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Bakain (Melia Azadirachta) trunk at Kolkata I IMG 8041.jpg|trunk in  [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
Image:Chinaberry_(1).jpg|A Chinaberry tree bearing fruit
Image:Chinaberry_at_fall_bearing_fruit_with_no_leaves.jpg|Fruit-bearing branches, after losing leaves in autumn
Image:Chinaberries1.jpg|Fruit
Image:Melia_azedarach_trunk_bark01.jpg|Bark
Image:Wilcannia5.JPG|''Melia azedarach'' as a [[desert]] street tree at [[Wilcannia]], [[New South Wales|NSW]], [[Australia]]
</gallery>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{aut|Linneas, C}} (1753) ''Species Plantarum'' '''1''': 384-385. [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40016385 Tropicos - Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis, Missouri]
* {{aut|Baza Mendonça, Luciana & dos Anjos, Luiz}} (2005): Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil  [Hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil]. [Portuguese with English abstract] ''Revista Brasileira de Zoologia'' '''22'''(1): 51–59. <small>{{doi|10.1590/S0101-81752005000100007}}</small> [http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v22n1/a07v22n1.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Langeland, K.A. & Burks, K. Craddock (eds.)}} (2005): ''Melia azedarach. In: Identification and Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas: 96-97. Version of 2005-SEP-05. [http://www.fleppc.org/ID_book/melia%20azederach.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Russell, Alice B.; Hardin, James W. & Grand, Larry}} (1997): ''[http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Meliaaz.htm Melia azedarach. In: Poisonous Plants of North Carolina''.] Retrieved 2008-JAN-26.

==External links==
{{commons}}
* [http://www.fleppc.org/ID_book/melia%20azederach.pdf Melia azederach] (PDF)
* [http://www.sertox.com.ar/es/info/faq/2004/01.htm SerTox] (in Spanish) - FAQ about toxic plants.

[[Category:Melia|azedarach]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Sapindales of Australia]]
[[Category:Flora of Queensland]]
[[Category:Flora of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Trees of Australia]]
[[Category:Trees of China]]
[[Category:Trees of India]]
[[Category:Drought-tolerant trees]]
[[Category:Invasive plant species]]
[[Category:Poisonous plants]]
[[Category:Naturalized trees of Alabama]]

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[[da:Paternostertræ]]
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[[ko:멀구슬나무]]
[[hsb:Indiski melijowc]]
[[id:Mindi]]
[[it:Melia azedarach]]
[[he:אזדרכת מצויה]]
[[ht:Lilas peyi]]
[[nl:Indische sering]]
[[ja:センダン]]
[[pnb:دریک]]
[[pt:Amargoseira]]
[[ru:Мелия азедарах]]
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