THE HORSE RADISH TREE FAMILY 



MORINGACE^ Dumont 



GENUS MORINGA LAMARCK 



Species Moringa Moringa (Linnaeus) Small 



Giiilandina Moringa Linnaeus. Moringa pterygosperma Ga^rtner 



i^ORINGA, or Horse-radish tree, 



the type of the genus Moringa, 



so called on account of the 



pungent taste and odor of its 

 roots, is a native of India, has long been 

 cultvated in tropical countries, and has 

 escaped from cultivation in Florida and 

 the West Indies. The family includes only 

 the genus Moringa, of which 3 species are 

 known, natives of Asia and Africa. 



It is a small tree, sometimes 7 or 8 me- 

 ters high, with corky bark and alternate 

 pinnately decompound leaves; the very 

 numerous leaflets are thin, opposite, oval 

 to obovate, blunt, dull green, short-stalked, 

 2 cm. long or less. The showy, irregular 

 fragrant flowers are in large axillary pani- 

 cles; the cup-shaped calyx is 5-cleft; there 

 are 5 unequal whitish petals and 5 perfect dechned stamens with slender fila- 

 ments, hairy toward the base, and i -celled anthers, alternating with about as 

 many sterile stamens (staminodia) ; the hairy ovary is i -celled, containing many 

 ovules and is tipped by a slender style; it ripens into a long, angled, pointed, 

 drooping pod, 4.5 dm. long or less, and i to 2 cm. thick, containing numerous 

 winged seeds. 



The wood is soft, weak, and of little value. The tree is valued for its pods, 

 which are eaten as a vegetable and pickled; Ben oil, much used by watch- 

 makers, is expressed from its seeds. 



Fig, 359. Horse-radish Tree. 



407 



