Melia azedarach, commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Indomalaya and Australasia.
Description
The fully grown tree has a rounded crown, and commonly measures 7–12 metres (20–40 feet) tall, exceptionally 45 m (150 ft).
The leaves are up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) long, alternate, long-petioled, two or three times compound (odd-pinnate); the leaflets are dark green above and lighter green below, with serrate margins.
The flowers 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.
Melia azedarach has a short lifespan, averaging about 20 years.
Italo et al. 2009 and Safithri and Sari 2016 report flavonoids and phenols found in M. azedarach.
Chemistry
Italo et al. 2009 and Safithri and Sari 2016 report flavonoids and phenols found in M. azedarach.
Etymology
The genus name Melia is derived from μελία (melía), the Greek word used by Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC) for Fraxinus ornus, which has similar leaves. The species name azedarach is from the French: azédarac, which in turn is from the Persian: آزاددرخت, lit. 'free- or noble tree'.
Melia azedarach should not be confused with the Azadirachta trees, which are in the same family, but a different genus.
Its common name derives from the fact that its range includes China and it produces berries.
Ecology
Close-up of the flowers
Close-up of a cluster of ripe fruits
Indian grey hornbill eating Melia azedarach fruit in Uttarakhand, India.
Egyptian rousette feeding on chinaberries, in Turkey
Some hummingbirds like the sapphire-spangled emerald (Amazilia lactea), glittering-bellied...
