464

Melia azedarach L.

Synonym	:	Azedara speciosa Raf.
Family	:	Meliaceae
Local name	:	English - Bead tree, Indian Lilac Malayalam - Malaveppu, Kattuveppu
Flowering and fruiting period	:	May-December
Distribution	:	Tropical Asia, Australia and Africa
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Grown as avenue tree
IUCN Status	:	Least concerned
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	It is used traditionally to treat piles, mouth ulcer, skin problems, dandruff, gout and inflammation. The root and the bark are used as an anthelmintic, vermifuge, cathartic, emetic and for intermittent fevers and dysentery.
Key Botanical Characters:  Trees, up to 20 m high, bark grey. Leaves bipinnate, alternate, estipulate; rachis 24-34 cm long, slender, scurfy tomentose, swollen at the base; pinnae 3-5, 4.5-7 cm, lamina ovate-obovate, ovate, obovate or oblong, base oblique, truncate or attenuate, apex acuminate, margin irregularly serrate. Flowers bisexual, lilac, in axillary panicles to 15 cm long; pedicels to 2 mm; calyx lobes 5, 1.5 mm, ovate, pubescent without; petals 5, lanceolate, glabrescent; disc annular; staminal tube 7 mm, dark purple, striate, puberulous, 10-toothed; stamens 10; ovary superior, 1 mm, 5-celled; ovules 2 in each cell; style attenuate, to 3 mm; stigma capitate. Fruit a drupe, 2 x 1 cm, globose, glabrous; seed one.