Description
Moringa is a conspicuous, erect, deciduous tree up to 7 m high, bearing a succulent, often bottle-shaped main branch up to 1 m in diameter. The roots are fleshy. The bark is smooth, brown to silvery copper, with a shiny green sheen, and resinous. The leaves (tending to droop) are alternately arranged, twice-compound and up to 0.6 m long with up to 4 pairs of pinna, each with up to 7 pairs of opposite, oval leaflets and a terminal leaflet. The leaflets can grow up to 25 mm long.
The white flowers are borne in branched axillary sprays (panicles), each up to 3 mm in diameter with 4-5 petals. They are followed by grey-brown, three-angled pods, up to 400 mm long, which split along three valves, releasing the winged seeds. Flowering time: mainly November to May (fruiting October to May).