Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori
Hyperanthera peregrina Forssk., M. aptera Gaertn., M. arabica Pers.
Eng.: Ben tree, wispy-needled yasar tree, wild drum-stick tree. Spa.: Moringa, marango. Ara.: Yasaar, yusor, el-baan, las semillas: habb el-yasaar.
Tree, deciduous, glaucous green or greyish, pendulous in aspect, with white trunk and bark.; it can reach up to 10 m in height, but it does not normally exceed 4-5 m. Leaves large (20-30 cm), compound, imparipinnate, 2-3 pinnate, with 5-7 opposite leaflets, entire, narrowly oblong-lanceolate (1-2.5 × 0.1-0.5 cm). Leaflets are deciduous but the green-ashen leaf rachis persist on the branches. Stipules very small or absent. Flowers hermaphrodite, zygomorphic, pink-white or yellowish, 1-1.5 cm, in lax panicles, axillary, 15-25 cm; they appear before the leaves. Calyx with 5 free sepals 7-9 mm. Petals 5, free, unequal, 8-15 mm. Ovary unilocular, superior. Fruits in long capsules (10-25 × 1-1.5 cm), hanging, similar to legumes or pods, with 3 rugose valves, with longitudinal ribs. Seeds (1.2-1.5 × 0.8-1 cm), ovoid-trigone, reminiscent of almonds, white or brownish; they have a taste between sweet and sour and are rich in oil, very similar to that from the olive.
Flowering:
February to April, before the leaves appear, which often occurs between April to May.
Fruiting:
In autumn (September to October).
Habitat:
Wadis at the foot of the mountains, generally between 1,300-1,500 m, mainly on rocky slopes, cliffs and rugged areas, probably as a defence against herbivory.
Distribution:
NE Africa [Egypt (Sinai Peninsula), Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti] and SW Asia. Arabia, Yemen, Syria. Jordan, Palestine, Israel, perhaps in Iran and Pakistan.
Observations:
This species was well known in ancient times, but has recently been “rediscovered” as a “panacea”, a “miraculous” tree, due to the vitamins, proteins and minerals that it contains, and a wide variety of uses (analgesic, abdominal pain, burns, constipation, antipyretic, laxative, headaches, etc.). The oil from its seeds is edible and palatable, it is used as a dietary supplement that aids digestion and for making skin lotions. This oil contains almost all the active ingredients of olive oil and appears to have been one of the most important oils of the antiquity (Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilisations). The wood of this plant is popular as a building material. Due to all of these uses the plant is threatened in its natural distribution range.
Conservation status:
Very rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.