Moringa oleifera
Moringa (benzolive)
- Also called Moringa, Drumstick tree, Horseradish tree
- Haitian Creole Benzolive, benzoliv
- Hindi Sahjan (सहजन)
- Tamil Murungai (முருங்கை)
Fast-growing deciduous tree, 5-10 m
What it is
Moringa is a small, fast-growing tree with soft wood and feathery leaves divided into many small round leaflets. Its creamy white flowers are scented, and its long, ridged green pods, up to 45 cm, give it the name drumstick tree. It grows well in dry, hot places and can be cut back hard and regrow. It comes from the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India and is now grown across the tropics.
What it's used for
- Its leaves are cooked as a green vegetable or dried and powdered, and its young pods are eaten too.
- Its seeds give a light oil, known as ben oil.
- Its flowers are visited by bees, and its leaves are used as fodder for livestock.
- In parts of the tropics crushed seeds are used to settle mud out of drinking water.
Where we plant it
Our partners plant the mix of native species that suits each site and season, so a gift plants trees in the project rather than this one species. Moringa oleifera is one of the species planted there.
More trees planted in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Red mombin (siwèl)Spondias purpurea
Cassava (manyòk)Manihot esculenta
Mesquite or bayahondeProsopis juliflora
Spanish cedar (sèd)Cedrela odorata
Cacao, the chocolate treeTheobroma cacao
Sour orange (zoranj si)Citrus aurantium
Papaya (papay)Carica papaya
Arabica coffee (kafe)Coffea arabica
See all 16 species in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Other species we plant
Mangrove Restoration in Kenya
4 species
Rebuilding Oregon's Forests
5 species
Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
37 species
LimeberryBaheda or Beleric myrobalanBig-fruited jamunSouth Indian suregadaJamun, Naval or Black plumDevil pepper or Wild snakerootWoody-fruited PterospermumCork-leaved bayurVengai, Vijaysar or Indian kinoCeylon boxwoodCorky debbar treePanakka treeWinged naringi, a wild citrusPamburus, a wild citrus relativeElumbotti, the bone-knit shrubClimbing olaxBakul, Magizham or Spanish cherryKaya or Ironwood treeNotched-leaf spike thornPalai, Palu or KhirniPointed-leaf jasmineIndian screw tree or ValampuriGrewia, a dry-country shrubGrewia, a dry-forest shrubOrangeberry or KonjiGarlic fruit or Bitter garciniaHairy fig or PeyattiWild karanda or ConkerberryCansjera, a native forest climberShining bush-violetVagai or Siris treeUsilai or Krishna sirisChokkalai or Droopy leafWild lime or Kattu elumichaiKorinti, a custard-apple relativeIndian allophylus or TitberryLolly berry or Saptarangi
