Melia azedarach L.

English: Chinaberry tree, Umbrella Tree

German: Paternosterbaum

Mandarin: 楝 (lian)

Portuguese: Cinamomo

Kingdom: Plantae (2616)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2519)

    Class: Magnoliopsida (2128)

      Order: Sapindales (68)

        Family: Anacardiaceae (19)(family description)

          Genus: Melia (1)

            Epithet: azedarach L. (1)

Synonyms: Antelaea javanica Gaertn., Azedara speciosa Rafin., Azedarach commelini Medic., Azedarach deleteria Moench, Azedarach odoratum Noronha, Azedarach sempervirens (L.) Kuntze, Azedarach vulgaris Gomez de la Maza, Melia angustifolia Schum. & Thonn., Melia argentea Buch.-Ham., Melia arguta DC., Melia australasica Juss., Melia australis Sweet, Melia birmanica Kurz, Melia bogoriensis Koord. & Valet., Melia bukayun Royle, Melia candollei Juss., Melia chinensis Siebold, Melia cochinchinensis M.Roem., Melia commelini Medic., Melia composita Benth., Melia dubia Cav., Melia flaccida Zipp., Melia floribunda Carriere, Melia florida Salisb., Melia guineensis G.Don, Melia hasskarlii K.Koch, Melia japonica G.Don, Melia javanica M.Roem., Melia orientalis M.Roem., Melia robusta Roxb., Melia sambucina Bl., Melia sempervirens (L.) Sw., Melia superba Roxb., Melia toosendan Sieb. & Zucc.

angustifolia => with narrow leaves

argentea => silvery

australis => southern, of the southern hemisphere

azedarach => either arab. origin or more likely from lat. cedraceus due to similarity of aromatic smelling wood with Cedrus

birmanica => from Burma (Myanmar)

chinensis => of Chinese origin

cochinchinensis => from Cochinchina (old name for various southern regions of Vietnam)

composita => compound, e.g. flowers in a head

dubia => doubtful, uncertain (usually in regard to taxonomic placement)

floribunda => abundance of flowers, many flowered

florida => flowering richly

guineensis => indicates origin in the Guinea Coast

hasskarlii => in honor of Justus Carl Hasskarl (1811-1894), German explorer and botanist

japonica => from Japan

javanica => from Java, Indonesia

odoratum => sweet-smelling

orientalis => eastern

robusta => strong, big, gigantic

sambucina => elder-like, resembling Sambucus

sempervirens => evergreen, retaining leaves in winter

speciosa => beautiful

superba => superb, handsome, splendid, majestic

vulgaris => common, everyday

Climate: sub-tropical

Habitat: mesophytic

Habit: tree

Flower colour: purple, white

Check for Melia azedarach at

World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI

• [299] Melia azedarach - Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)