English: Bead Tree; Bead-tree; Cape-lilac; Carolina Mahogany; China berry; China-Berry; Chinaberry; Chinaberry-tree; Indian lilac; Lelah; Lilac; Margosa tree; Persian Lilac; Paraiso; Pride of India; Pride-of-India; Sichuan pagoda-tree; Syringa; Syringa berrytree; Texas umbrella-tree; Tulip-cedar; Tree of heaven; Umbrella-cedar; Umbrella tree; White cedar; White-cedar.
Name: Melia is a Greek word for Fraxinus ornus, which has similar leaves; azedarach is from the French 'azédarac' which in turn is from the Persian 'āzād dirakht', meaning free or noble tree.
Region: Indomalaya, Australasia; invasive in USA, Virginia and Oklahoma.
Content: flavonoids; phenols
Ecology: Indian grey hornbill eats the fruit; hummingbirds, like Amazilia lactea, Chlorostilbon lucidus, and Phaethornis pretrei are feeding on and pollinating the flowers; fruits poisonous or narcotic to humans; not toxic to birds, gorging on the fruit till drunken.
Content: toxins, neurotoxins, tetranortriterpenoids, unidentified resins, mainly in the fruits; toxic to humans, cats.
Used: tree in nature strip plantings for amenity reasons, shade tree, environmental, social and economic benefits; leaves as fodder for cattle to improve milk yields; seed as beads, in rosaries; branches with mature fruit as ornamentals; wood for planks.
BotanyTree; 7 to 12 to 45 m tall; rounded crown.
Stem: wood has medium density, light brown to dark red, high quality, dries without cracking or warping, resistant to fungal infection, readily confused with
Tectona grandis.
Leaves: up to 50 centimetres long; alternate; long-petioled; two or three times compound, odd-pinnate; leaflets dark green above, lighter green below, with serrate margins.
Flowers: small; fragrant; petals 5, pale purple or lilac.
Inflorescence: clusters.
Fruit: drupe; marble-sized; green, light yellow at maturity; hanging on the tree all winter; gradually becoming wrinkled and almost white.
Seeds: tough; five-grooved; toxic.
DD: Azadirachta, which are in the same family, but a different genus.