Chinaberry tree

Melia azedarach

Melia azedarach is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Indomalaya and Australasia. The genus "Melia" includes four other species, occurring from southeast Asia to northern Australia. They are all deciduous or semi-evergreen trees.
Macro syringa berrytree flower Native to this country and South East Asia. Here, the natural range is from Cooktown in north Queensland down through to the south coast of New South Wales. A deciduous shade tree with a rounded crown, usually reaching 12 m (but some as high as 30 m have been recorded). Width 8 m. Flowers are very small at 10 mm diameter with five pale purple/white petals and growing in great swathes of clusters. One can often smell this tree before seeing it, the perfume is heady and (I think) really lovely. Fruits are small, round 15 mm diameter and poisonous to humans and some other mammals but birds are able to eat the fruits. (Some reports suggest that ingesting as few as 6–8 fruits can be fatal to humans). https://www.jungledragon.com/image/104045/macro_syringa_berrytree_flowers.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/104576/syringa_berrytree.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/122366/syringa_berrytree_flowers.html Australia,Cape lilac,Chinaberry tree,Geotagged,Macro,Melia azedarach,Meliaceae,Persian lilac,Sapindales,Spring,Tree,bead tree,botany,new south wales,syringa berrytree,tulip cedar tree,white cedar

Appearance

The adult tree has a rounded crown, and commonly measures attains a height of 7–12 metres, however in exceptional circumstances "M. azedarach" can attain a height of 45 metres. The flowers are small and fragrant, with five pale purple or lilac petals, growing in clusters. The fruit is a drupe, marble-sized, light yellow at maturity, hanging on the tree all winter, and gradually becoming wrinkled and almost white.

The leaves are up to 50 cm long, alternate, long-petioled, two or three times compound; the leaflets are dark green above and lighter green below, with serrate margins.
Syringa berrytree flowers Native to this country and South East Asia. Here, the natural range is from Cooktown in north Queensland down through to the south coast of New South Wales. A deciduous shade tree with a rounded crown, usually reaching 12 m (but some as high as 30 m have been recorded). Width 8 m. Flowers are very small at 10 mm diameter with five pale purple/white petals and growing in great swathes of clusters. One can often smell this tree before seeing it, the perfume is heady and (I think) really lovely. Fruits are small, round 15 mm diameter and poisonous to humans and some other mammals but birds are able to eat the fruits. (Some reports suggest that ingesting as few as 6–8 fruits can be fatal to humans). https://www.jungledragon.com/image/102368/macro_syringa_berrytree_flower.html https://www.jungledragon.com/image/104576/syringa_berrytree.html Australia,Chinaberry tree,Flora,Geotagged,Melia azedarach,Meliaceae,Persian lilac,Sapindales,Spring,botany,new south wales,syringa berrytree,white cedar

Naming

Common names of "Melia azedarach" include chinaberry, Persian lilac, white cedar, Texas umbrella, bead-tree, Cape lilac, Ceylon cedar, Syringa, "malai vembu", "bakain", "zanzalakht" and "dharek" or "dhraik" Turaka vepa in Telugu.
Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) Introduced/Invasive. Crappy cellphone shot in a public parking lot. Chinaberry tree,Geotagged,Melia azedarach,United States

Defense

Fruits are poisonous to humans if eaten in quantity. However, like those of the Yew tree, these toxins are not harmful to birds, who gorge themselves on the fruit, eventually reaching a "drunken" state.

The toxins are neurotoxins and unidentified resins, found mainly in the fruits. Some birds are able to eat the fruit, spreading the seeds in their droppings. The first symptoms of poisoning appear a few hours after ingestion.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Status: Unknown
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderSapindales
FamilyMeliaceae
GenusMelia
Species
Photographed in
Australia
Greece
United States of America