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Showing posts from February 12, 2015

Melia azedarach

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Common Names: Chinaberry, bead tree, Persian lilac, pride-of-India Family: Meliaceae (mahogany Family) Description Chinaberry is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with a rounded crown that reaches about 50 ft (15.2 m) tall with a 20 ft (6.1 m) spread. The bark is reddish brown, becoming fissured on mature trees. The deciduous leaves are bipinnate (twice feather-like) and 1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m) long. The individual leaflets, each about 2 in (5.1 cm) long and less than half as wide, are pointed at the tips and have toothed edges. In spring and early summer, Chinaberry produces masses of purplish, fragrant, star shaped flowers, each about 3/4 in (1.9 cm) in diameter, that arch or droop in 8 in (2.4 cm) panicles. They are followed by clusters of spherical, yellow fruits about 3/4 in (1.9 cm) in diameter that persist on the trees even after the leaves have fallen. Texas umbrella Chinaberry or Texas umbrella tree (M. azedarach cv. ‘Umbraculiformis’) produces upward-arching branches and droopi...