Moringa hildebrandtii

Moringa hildebrandtii, or Hildebrandt's moringa, is a tree species with a massive, water-storing trunk in the family Moringaceae. It is endemic to Madagascar, where it is extinct in the wild, but preserved by indigenous horticulture practices.[1]

Moringa hildebrandtii
Trunk and leaves of Moringa hildebrandtii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Moringaceae
Genus: Moringa
Species:
M. hildebrandtii
Binomial name
Moringa hildebrandtii

The plant originally was thought to grow along the west coast of Madagascar, but ethnobotany data suggest it in fact grew in the island's extreme southwest.

Description

The plant's water-storing trunk grows up to 20 m. Its leaves are pinnate, compound, and can reach 1 m 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 50 cm long and contain 6 to 12 large nut-shaped seeds in a hard, light brown shell.

Rediscovery

In an article in Cactus World (the quarterly journal of the British Cactus and Succulent Society) the authors claimed to have rediscovered a population of M. 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. J. B. Castillon & J. P. Castillon March 2007. Cactus World. The recent discovery of the first wild population of Moringa hildebrandtii (Moringaceae) in Madagascar
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