Pronounciation: Mo-RIN-ga o-lay-i-FER-a

Hardiness zones
Sunset 12-24
USDA 9 (might freeze to ground in winter)-11

Landscape Use: For oasis and xeric landscape design themes as a fast growing large shrub to tree, screen, food gardens.

Form & Character: Upright and VERY FAST, brittle, rigid to spreading with age, large shrub to small tree, subtropical, dry.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, perennial broadleaf tree, stiffly branched, fast growth rate to 15- to 40-feet tall with somewhat less than equal spread, wood is of low density, stems produce prominent lenticles.

Foliage/Texture: Large, dull green, twice to thrice pinnately compound leaves, leaflets small, ovate; medium coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers are clustered in terminal panicles, cream white petals with yellow centers, fragrant and hermaphroditic; fruits are elongated pods, green ripening to light brown, seeds dark brown and rounded.

Seasonal Color: Not much, but in Phoenix, cream white flowers mostly in later spring, but episodically during the late summer to early fall if summer monsoon rains are bountiful.

Temperature: Heat loving and frost sensitive. Shoots are damaged by temperatures below 30^oF.

Light: Full sun

Soil: Tolerant of a wide range of well-drained soil types and conditions, but prefers a slightly acidic to slightly alkaline soil, pH range from 6 to 8.

Watering: Moringa is quite drought tolerant, but responds rapidly to the presence of water with rapid growth. In Phoenix, use supplemental irrigation frequency and amounts as an effective means to control moringa growth rate.

Pruning: Moringa form and growth habit is easily manipulated by a variety of pruning techniques ranging from crown raising and thinning to stooling.

Propagation: Easily propagated by seed or vegetative stem cuttings.

Disease and Pests: None

Additional comments: Moringa is a legendary plant of many uses. It is an edible plant that is cultivated in all tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and is effective in treating hyperglycemia. In Phoenix, moringa is currently a quirky and trendy plant for hippy urban garden farmers to have in their residential home landscapes.

Taxonomic tidbit: The genus name Moringa means "twisted pod", referring to the young fruit.