Digital Garden

Azadirachta indica

Neem

Scientific Name: Azadirachta indica

Common Name: Neem

Scientific Name-  Azadirchta india

Common name- Neem

Family-  Meliaceae

Habit type – tree 

Leaves- Compound pinnate leaves with 8–19 leaflets, Light green in color, turning red when young, Leaflets are ovate to lanceolate, with a toothed margin and tapering tips, Leaves are crowded  near the end of branches.

Bark- Dark brown coloured,  fissured longitudinally, Bark is deeply fissured and flaking in old trees.

Flower - Inflorescence an axillary, many-flowered thyrsus, up to 30 cm long; bracts minute and caducous; flowers bisexual or male on same tree, actinomorphic, small, pentamerous, white or pale yellow, slightly sweet scented; calyx lobes imbricate, broadly ovate and thin, puberulous inside; petals free, imbricate, spathulate, spreading, ciliolate inside.

Fruits- Fruit 1 (max. 2)-seeded drupe, ellipsoidal, 1-2 cm long, greenish, greenish yellow to yellow or   purple when ripe; exocarp thin, mesocarp pulpy, endocarp cartilaginous; seed ovoid or spherical; apex pointed; testa thin, composed of a shell and a kernel (sometimes 2 or 3 kernels), each about half of the seed’s weight.

FACTS & MEDICINAL USES 

Used in different type of medicine (Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Folk medicine, Siddha, Unani).

The twigs are used as a toothbrush. The leaves are used in religious rites. The leaves are used to treat chickenpox. It is thought the tree has a cure or treatment for more than forty different diseases and medical conditions. Wood is hard and used for agricultural implement.