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.