Moringa

This article is about the genus Moringa. Moringa is also the common name of a particular species, Moringa oleifera.

Moringa
M. ovalifolia in Namibia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Moringaceae Martinov
Genus:	Moringa Adans.
Type species
Moringa oleifera Lam.
Species
See text
Synonyms
Donaldsonia Baker f. Hyperanthera Forssk.

Moringa, native to parts of Africa and Asia, is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Moringaceae. The name is derived from murungai/munakkai/muringa, the Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam word for drumstick. It contains 13 species from tropical and subtropical climates that range in size from tiny herbs to massive trees.

The most widely cultivated species is Moringa oleifera, a multipurpose tree native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India and cultivated throughout the tropics. M. stenopetala, an African species, is also widely grown, but to a much lesser extent than M. oleifera.

Moringa species grow quickly in many types of environments.

List of species

• Moringa arborea Verdc. (Kenya)
• Moringa borziana Mattei
• Moringa concanensis Nimmo
• Moringa drouhardii Jum. – bottle tree (southwestern Madagascar)
• Moringa hildebrandtii Engl. – Hildebrandt's moringa (southwestern Madagascar)
• Moringa longituba Engl.
• Moringa oleifera Lam. (syn. M. pterygosperma) – horseradish tree (northwestern India)
• Moringa ovalifolia Dinter & Berger
• Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori
• Moringa pygmaea Verdc.
• Moringa rivae Chiov.
• Moringa ruspoliana Engl.
• Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufod.

External links

• Moringa Home Page, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• The International Moringa Germplasm Collection