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Murraya koenigii

Indian Curry-leaf Tree

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Image:	Leaves, fruit and flowers	102KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Indian Curry-leaf Tree, Curry-leaf Tree, Curry-leaf, Curry Leaves, Indian Curry Leaves, Karapincha

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - se.Asia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Leaves condiment

KEY FEATURES: Shrub or small tree to 5m, with long compound leaves. LEAVES alternate, leaflets, 11-21 usually opposite plus one terminal, basal ones conspicuously smaller. LEAFLETS oval, to 7x3cm, base unequal, minutely toothed, midrib pale but small; strong spicy odour when bruised. FLOWERS terminal clusters, fragrant, small, 12mmØ, petals white. FRUIT oval, 1cmØ, ripening black.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica) has conspicuously toothed leaflets to 10x4cm (vs. minute teeth, 7x3cm); leaflets similar size (vs. decreasing towards leaf-attachment); fruit ripen yellow (vs black).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-			-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Murraya koenigii Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Sapindales; RUTACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Curry-leaf is am important curry ingredient in Southern India and se.Asia. There are a few varieties. Not to be confused with the Curry Plant of Europe, a daisy-family herb with silvery curry-scented leaves - Helichrysum italicum (=Helichrysum angustiflolium).

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.745 Hortus 3rd
p.762 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.3/513 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03b, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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