Talk:Azadirachta indica

uses of neem powder

Temperature Control

Added by an anon 64.180.252.205:

Supposedly the shade under a neem tree is up to 4 degrees cooler then under other trees. This wisdom was so popular, that by the time of British occupation, when the British laid out the Indian capital, New Delhi, at the beginning of the last century, they planted avenues of Neem as a natural air conditioner for the new city.

The bit about the 'cooler than under other trees' is highly improbable; the rest (that it should be planted as a street tree) is not of any particular note. Can anyone provide any verification? - MPF 10:05, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, we now have a photo of the genuine Neem tree in an Indian resident's yard. The photo shows both the leaves and blossom. You may view it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neville_misquitta/428289723/ (see talking point #5 below for reference to the discrepancies.--LW

Okay, we now have a photo of a genuine Neem tree from the backyard of a resident of India. You'll find it here: [1]

Refer to talking point number 5 below for the discrepancies being validated with this photo.

Possible Identification Confusion Between Neem and Chinaberry Tree

I am having a discussion with some Eastern members of a gardening group about the Neem tree. In that discussion, we're trying to discover if the tree is also present here in the U.S or if it is only in the India area.

We've been looking at your two sites here for Neem and Chinaberry (link to Chinaberry is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinaberry) and are coming up with several discrepancies and believe the Wiki text and images may be incorrect. I'll crosspost from our discussion of the problems:

1. Just found some other common names for it. Now I recognize it. We call it either Indian Lilac or Chinaberry or Umbrella Tree. It is classified as a poisonous, invasive plant here.

Here's a page on it as known in the US. It grows here in the Southeast US.

http://www.galvbayinvasives.org/Guide/Species/MeliaAzedarach

Hmm, so it is in common use in India but considered highly toxic here.

2. I'm getting confused. It sounds like we're talking about two different trees.

Check these pages out and compare:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Azadirachta
Species: A. indica

Neem (Azadirachta indica, syn. Melia azadirachta L., Antelaea azadirachta (L.) Adelb.) is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India and Burma, growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Other vernacular names include Margosa, Nimtree, Nimba, Vepu, Vempu, Veppam (Tamil), Vepa(Telugu) and Indian-lilac.

and this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinaberry
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Genus: Melia
Species: M. azedarach

The Chinaberry or Bead Tree (Melia azedarach; syn. M. australis, M. japonica, M. sempervivens), is a deciduous tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae, native to India, southern China and Australia. It is also occasionally known as Persian Lilac, White Cedar and other names.

While the Galbay website calls it:
Chinaberry, pride of India, Indian lilac, umbrella tree Melia azedarach and does not refer to it as Neem.

Compare the classifications and imaages. I think we're talking about two slightly different trees.

3. Nope, I think the Wikipedia site is incorrect. Two more university websites refer to the same tree as Neem and Chinaberry.

http://trees.stanford.edu/ENCYC/MELIAaz.htm

http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/samuelson/dendrology/

The last one has images also. They look similar but not the same.

I'm not going to assume they are the same tree with different common names. Lots more images here.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/133516/

4. You have put up a good information and also forced me to get more precise information about neem.

I have read the information about neem and chinaberry from the links and then went outside to see the trees growing on my street.

On the basis of my observation and I was also astonished that according to the close up picture of chinaberry two trees in my vacinity are chinaberry and third tree is neem. But the confusion is that I have seen flowers of the 3 trees they look the same and have light sweet fragnance, the flowers are whitish to some bit of purple petals one or two. flowers are in the form of racemes. The leaves of neem and chinaberry are very closely alike.

The trees in my street have shattered very few leaves. the wheather is changing and new buds are developing and I remember that they will also flower in after 2 months. The fruit is greenish when fresh and yellowish white when ripe. hard and dry have bead like seed in the centre. I have never seen anyone eating it.

In my country, India, two more related species are also grown commonly for shelter purposes. They are small in size I mean have height up to 3 to 5 meters. They have similar leaves, flowering habits and fruit like the above two. I will post pictures of all these trees for your close observation and I will also look in my library for the common english names of all these four trees.

5. Chinaberry and neem tree are two different plants. the wikipedia site has incorrect picture of neem tree. Neem tree has long leaves like finger, while the other plant shown as Chinaberry is commonly known as 'kari patta' in Pakistan. 'kari' is the name of a dish and 'patta' means leave. We use its leaves in that dish to make it more delicious.

Although neem tree has many advantages but in Pakistan it is commonly used to keep the mosquitoes away. I don't have a picture of neem tree at this moment because it is very common. By the way neem can not grow well in containers but Chinaberry can be grown in containers.

If the Wiki editors would like a link to our discussion to participate or observe as it develops, here it is: http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=1874&tid=2513357231748148463&na=1&nst=1

Not sure if that will work as a direct link without you being a registered member of Orkut. Have never participated in the editing of Wiki before so if something is inappropirate about my attempt to communicate the confusion, please correct while leaving the conflicting sources and questions.

209.247.23.182 02:25, 3 February 2007 (UTC)