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Azadirachta

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Through Azadirachta indica and Traditional medicine

Medicinal properties have been attributed to the resin derived from the trees in the traditional medicine of India. One of the components of this resin has been found to be an effective insecticide; see azadirachtin. Another component is an effective anti-fungal; see Azadirachta indica.

These species should not be confused with Melia azedarach, which is a tree in a different genus of the family Meliaceae.

Taxonomy

The genus Azadirachta was established by Adrien-Henri de Jussieu in 1830. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus had described two species, Melia azedarach and Melia azadirachta. De Jussieu considered Melia azadirachta to be sufficiently different from Melia azedarach to be placed in a new genus, Azadirachta, as Azadirachta indica. For both his species, Linnaeus referred to the name 'azedarach', which is derived from the French 'azédarac', which in turn is from the Persian 'āzād dirakht' (ازادرخت), meaning 'free or noble tree'.

Species

As of March 2023, Plants of the World Online accepted two species:

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