Moringa hildebrandtii

Hildebrandt's moringa
Trunk and leaves of Moringa hildebrandtii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Moringaceae
Genus:	Moringa
Species:	M. hildebrandtii
Binomial name
Moringa hildebrandtii Engl.

The Hildebrandt's moringa (Moringa hildebrandtii) is a tree species with a massive, water-storing trunk in the family Moringaceae. It is native to Madagascar, where it is extinct in the wild but preserved by indigenous horticulture practices^[1]. It is often thought that the plant originally grew along the west coast of Madagascar, but ethnobotany data suggest that it in fact grew in the island's extreme south-west.

Description

The plant's water-storing trunk grows up to 20 m. Its leaves are pinnate, compound, and can reach one meter long. The leaf rachis and stem tips of young plants are distinctively deep red. Leaves spread around the trunk in an umbrella-like fashion. The small ivory-white flowers are borne in large sprays. Fruits are up to 50cm long and contain 6 to 12 large nut shaped seeds in a hard light brown shell.

Rediscovery

In an article in the March 2007 issue of Cactus World (the quarterly journal of the British Cactus and Succulent Society) the authors J-B Castillon & J-P Castillon claimed they have rediscovered the first population of Moringa hildebrandtii in the wild. ^[2]

References

1. ^ Olson, M. E., and S. G. Razafimandimbison. 2000. Moringa hildebrandtii: A tree extinct in the wild but preserved by indigenous horticultural practices in Madagascar. Adansonia sér. 3 22(2) 217-221.
2. ^ March 2007. Cactus World. The recent discovery of the first wild population of Moringa hildebrandtii (Moringaceae) in Madagascar by J-B Castillon & J-P Castillon

External links

• Moringa hildebrandtii (Moringaceae): a tree extinct in the wild