Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufodontis

Most research on applied uses of Moringa other than M. oleifera focuses on this species. It is an important food plant in southwestern Ethiopia, where it is cultivated as a crop plant. There are fairly readily accessible populations of the plant on the island of Lake Baringo, in the Rift Valley in Kenya, and all material used in research probably comes from this area.

However, the distribution of the species through its range is very poorly known. After Lake Baringo, it is known from only four other localities, all around Lake Turkana, a huge lake that reaching hundreds of miles into Kenya from the Ethiopian border.

All moringas have nectaries at the bases of their leaves and leaflets. In In cultivation, M. stenopetala quickly produces a large gray trunk and leaves covered with glistening nectaries.


1. Moringa stenopetala habit  2. seed

1. Habit
 2. Seed


home - people - research - images of the dry tropics - exploration - acknowledgements

Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria
Copilco, Coyoacán A. P. 70-367
C. P. 04510, México, D. F.
MÉXICO

(52) 55 5622-9127 fon (52) 55 5555-1760 fax
molson@ibiologia.unam.mx

all material © 2002 Mark E Olson