NEEM TREE By Sneha Krishna, Dhwani Dhadheech

INTRODUCTION Among the many natural plants and herbs that people in India use for their medicinal properties. The Neem tree ( L. Azadirachta Indica ) is one of the most beneficial for natural or Ayurvedic medicine. Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 15–20 metres (49–66 ft), rarely to 35–40 metres (115–130 ft).tree

N AMES IN OTHER LANGUAGE The English name neem is borrowed from Hindi; in English it is also known as Indian Lilac. The Hindi name is the same as that used in Nepali, Urdu, and Bengali ( নিম ). In East Africa it is also known as Muarubaini (Swahili), which means the tree of the 40, as it is said to treat 40 different diseases, and in Somalia it is known as Geed Hindi which means "the Indian tree

FLOWERS The (white and fragrant) flowers are arranged axillary, normally in more-or-less drooping panicles which are up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long. The inflorescences, which branch up to the third degree, bear from 150 to 250 flowers. An individual flower is 5–6 millimetres (0.20–0.24 in) long and 8–11 millimetres (0.31–0.43 in) wide. Protandrous, bisexual flowers and male flowers exist on the same individual. its leaf is aprox. 5 to 10 cm. long

F RUITS The fruit is a smooth (glabrous) olive-like drupe which varies in shape from elongate oval to nearly roundish, The fruit skin (exocarp) is thin and the bitter- sweet pulp (mesocarp) is yellowish-white and very fibrous. The white, hard inner shell (endocarp) of the fruit encloses one, rarely two or three, elongated seeds (kernels) having a brown seed coat.

U SES All parts of the tree are said to have medicinal properties (seeds, leaves, flowers and bark) and are used for preparing many different medical preparations. Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics (soap, neem shampoo, balms and creams such as Margo soap) and many oral health products. Practitioners of traditional Indian medicine recommend that patients with chicken pox sleep on neem leaves. Traditionally, slender neem branches have been chewed to clean one's teeth. Neem twigs are still collected and sold in markets for this use, and in rural India one often sees youngsters in the streets chewing on neem twigs(for the neem twigs and branches have great dental effects).

U SES …….2 Neem extracts as insecticides: Neem products are unique in that they are not outright killers. Instead, they alter an insects behaviour or life processes in ways that can be extremely subtle. Eventually, however, the insect can no longer feed or breed or metamorphose and can cause no further damage.

T HANK Y OU ! By, Sneha Krishna, Dhwani Dhadeech