Curry leaf tree

Scientific Name :

Murraya koenigii (L.) Sprengel

Synonym(s) :

Bergera koenigii L.

Local/Common name(s) :

Kariveppu, Curry leaf tree

Family :

Rutaceae

Habit :

Tree

Flowering/Fruiting Time :

April-May

Habitat :

Cultivated

Endemic :

No

Status (IUCN) :

Least concern (LC)

Distribution :

India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Laos; Kerala: throughout (planted)

Nativity :

Indigenous

Uses :

Medicine, Food, Oil, Culinary

Description (Morphology) :

Shrubs or small trees. Leaves pinnate, crowded at twig-ends; leaflets asymmetrical, a oblique, oblong-lanceolate, margin entire, apex acute. Panicles terminal, corymbose, many-flowered. Flowers small, white; pedicels 3 mm long. Sepals 1 x 1mm. Petals 5, white, 6-8 x 1.5 mm, linear, sparsely glandular, rounded and slightly recurved at apex. Stamens 10, 5 longer than the others; anthers oblong. Ovary 1 mm long, globose; stigma capitate. Berry 8-11 mm across, subglobose, purplish-black when ripe. Seeds 1-2, green, globular-ovoid.