Taxon: Moringa oleifera Lam.

Common names:

• ben-oil-tree   (Source: Zander ed16 ) – English
  
• benzolive-tree   (Source: Handb Nuts ) – English
  
• drumsticktree   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – English
  
• horseradish-tree   (Source: Food Feed Crops US ) – English
  
• moringa   (Source: Handb Nuts ) – English
  
• West Indian ben   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 8:213.) – English
  
• ben ailée   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• moringa ailée   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• mouroungue   (Source: PROTABASE ) – French
  
• néverdié   (Source: PROTABASE ) – French
  
• pois quénique   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• Meerrettichbaum   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• moringueiro   (Source: PROTABASE ) – Portuguese
  
• muringueiro   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  
• quiabo-da-quina   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• maranga   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• paraíso   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• paraíso blanco   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• mlonge   (Source: PROTABASE ) – Swahili
  
• mronge   (Source: PROTABASE ) – Swahili
  
• mzunze   (Source: PROTABASE ) – Swahili
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Environmental: boundary/barrier/support; ornamental; shade/shelter   (fide Pl Res SEAs 8:213. 1993; Zander ed13)
  
• Human food: beverage base; fruit; oil/fat; seeds; vegetable   (fide F Males; Pl Res SEAs 8:213. 1993; PROTABASE)
  
• Fuels: potential as petroleum substitute/alcohol   (fide web document)
  
• Materials: fiber; gum/resin; lipids   (for wood pulp and cellulose fide Vercourt, Kew Bull 40:9. 1985; Handb Nuts; PROTABASE, gumm used in tanning & fabric printing)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2; PROTABASE)
  

More:

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Indian Subcontinent: India [n.]; Pakistan [perhaps only cult.]

• cultivated elsewhere

References:

• PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) - on-line resource. (PROTABASE)
• Boutelje, J. B. 1980. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature. (Ency WTimber)
• Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. (CRC MedHerbs ed2)
• Duke, J. A. 1989. Handbook of Nuts. CRC Press. (Handb Nuts)
• Erhardt, W. et al. 2000. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 16. Auflage. (Zander ed16)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop - on-line resource. (Ecocrop)
• Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
• Howard, R. 1974–1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles. (F LAnt)
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3) [= M. pterygosperma Gaertn.].
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. (Food Feed Crops US)
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. (Herbs Commerce ed2)
• Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan. (F Pak)
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) - on-line resource. (Pl Names)
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
• Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). (Pl Res SEAs) 8:213–215.
• Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948–. Flora malesiana. (F Males)
• Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa. (F TE Afr) [cult.].
• Vercourt, B. 1985. A synopsis of the Moringaceae. Kew Bull. 40:7–12.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Moringa oleifera.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Moringa oleifera. Note: Defaults to a search by genus or species epithet if species binomial not found.

Synonyms:

• (=) Guilandina moringa L.
  
• (=) Moringa moringa (L.) Small
  
• (≡) Moringa pterygosperma Gaertn.
  (previously associated with 8 accessions)

Check other databases for Moringa oleifera Lam.:

• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• PROTABASE: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa's (PROTA's) online resource
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.
  Note: Defaults to a search by genus or species epithet if species binomial not found.

Images:

• Embryo drawing: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Seed: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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