Kalamungay

Moringa oleifera is the most widely cultivated species in the genus Moringa, the only genus in the plant family Moringaceae. Common names include moringa, drumstick tree (from the long, slender, triangular seed-pods), horseradish tree (from the taste of the roots), and benzoil tree (from the oil which is derived from the seeds).

M. oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree, native to the southern foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India, and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas where its young seed pods and leaves are used as vegetables, and many parts of the tree are used in traditional healing medicine. It can also be used for water purification and hand washing.

M. oleifera is a fast-growing, deciduous tree that can reach a height of 32 to 40 feet and trunk diameter of 1.5 feet. The bark has a whitish-grey colour and is surrounded by thick cork. Young shoots have purplish or greenish-white, hairy bark. The tree has an open crown of drooping, fragile branches and the leaves build up a feathery foliage of tripinnate leaves.

The flowers are fragrant and asexual, surrounded by five unequal, thinly veined, yellowish-white petals. The flowers are about 1/2 inch long and 3/4 inch broad. They grow on slender, hairy stalks in spreading or drooping flower clusters. Flowering begins within the first six months after planting. In seasonally cool regions, flowering only occurs once a year between April and June. In more constant seasonal temperatures and with constant rainfall, flowering can happen twice or even all year-round.

The fruit is a hanging, three-sided brown capsule of which holds dark brown, globular seeds which have three whitish papery wings and are dispersed by wind and water.

The tree has a wide range of uses

• food
• fertilizer
• fuel
• medicine
• cosmetics.