Chinaberry, Bead-tree or Cape Lilac

Description:

The adult tree has a rounded crown, and commonly measures attains a height of 7-12 metres, however in exceptional circumstances M. azedarach can attain a height of 45 metres. The flowers are small and fragrant, with five pale purple or lilac petals, growing in clusters. The fruit is a drupe, marble-sized, light yellow at maturity, hanging on the tree all winter, and gradually becoming wrinkled and almost white. The main utility of chinaberry is its timber. The hard, 5-grooved seeds were widely used for making rosaries and other products requiring beads, before their replacement by modern plastics. Fruits are poisonous to humans if eaten in quantity.[4] However, like those of the Yew tree, these toxins are not harmful to birds, who gorge themselves on the fruit, eventually reaching a "drunken" state.

Habitat:

Melia azedarach, commonly known as chinaberrry tree, bead-tree or Cape lilac, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, that is native to Pakistan, India, Indochina, Southeast Asia and Australia.