Melia azedarach, White Cedar, Persian Lilac, Chinaberry,
Syringa berrytree, Bead Tree,
Hebrew: אזדרכת מצויה, Arabic: أزادرخت

Scientific name:		Melia azedarach L.
Synonym name:		Melia australis Sweet, Melia G. Don, Melia sempervirens Kuntze
Common name:		China tree, Margosa tree, Persian Lilac, White Cedar, Chinaberry, Syringa berrytree, Bead Tree
Hebrew name:		אזדרכת מצויה
Arabic name:		أزادرخت ,Azadarkhat
Family:		Meliaceae, Mahogany family, אזדרכתיים

Location: Hula Nature Reserve

Life form:		Tree
Stems:		Up to 12m at maturity, a sreading crown; bark, brown to slightly reddish brown, splitting into slightly criss-crossing furrows
Leaves:		Alternate, compound, bipinnate or more, dentate or serrate
Inflorescence:		Axillary panicle up to 20 cm long, loose long clusters of violet flowers
Flowers:		sepals 5-lobed, 1 cm long; petals 5-lobed, 0.9 cm long, pubescent; staminal tube deep purple blue, 0.5 cm long, 1 cm across
Fruits / pods:		Drupe, round, 1.5cm in diameter, in hanging clusters, fleshy, light yellow at maturity; poisonous to humans
Flowering Period:		April
Habitat:		Disturbed habitats
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Native:		China and India
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Location: Herzliya Derivation of the botanical name: Melia, Greek name for the Ash Tree in allusion to the similarity of the leaves. The name came originally from meli, honey, as several species of Ash have sweet sap. azedarach, the name given by the Persian physician Avecinnia (980 - 1037) to a poisonous tree. australis, southern. japonica, Japanese. sempervirens, semper, always; virens, vireo to be green or verdant; evergreen. The Hebrew name: אזדרכת, azdarachet, a loan word from Persian: azad dirakht (=free tree; i.e. “noble tree”), derivative: אזדרכתי, izdarachti, meliaceous. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. The standard author abbreviation Sweet is used to indicate Robert Sweet (1783 – 1835), an English botanist, horticulturist and ornithologist. The standard author abbreviation G.Don is used to indicate George Don (1798 – 1856), a Scottish botanist. The standard author abbreviation Kuntze is used to indicate Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (1843 – 1907), a German botanist. Its name of Bead Tree is derived from the uses to which its hard, 5-grooved seeds are put in Roman Catholic countries, namely for making rosaries, before their replacement by modern plastics. Melia azedarach was not mentioned by any of the Greek, Roman, or Visigoth authors. It was first mentioned by the Andalusí agronomists at the end of the 11th century by Abu l-Khayr and later in the 12th century by Ibn al-,Awwam (Middle East Garden Traditions). Location: Herzliya