curry leaf bush - Murraya koenigii (forum)

len starts with ...
hello all,

bought to plants from a flea market grower chap, he says they are curry leafs, they have identical leaf as neem tree and the same fragrance, we have a neem and it has a fragrance, compare these curry leaf seedlings with my neem seedlings same size they look and smell the same

do they look and smell the same? our mature neem leaflets come to a point, but not the seedlings yet

many thanks need help

Time: 3rd July 2015 9:07am

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About the Author len
glenwood qld
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Julie says...
len, the curry leaf images (Google them) look nothing like Neem. Your seedling may change as it grows.

They also seem to be quite invasive.

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2816576.htm

Time: 3rd July 2015 8:47pm

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About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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Manfred says...
Hi Len

You got me wondering about this too, so I rushed out to my Murraya koenigi and had a sniff.

I don't have a neem (don't need the potential for weediness), but my recollection of the smell of the crushed leaf is that it is more resinous, while the curry leaf is almost tarry at first, then loses it's smell very quickly. The seed is softer than I recall the neem seed being, and retains the tarry smell when crushed.

The neem grows very quickly to a medium tree, while the M koenigi stays smaller than about 2.5 metres. The adult leaves are very similar though. They will have points, and both have a serrated margin.

The neem is in the meliaceae family, and the Murraya is in the rutaceae, but from memory both have panicles of white flowers. That seems OK- the closely related Murraya paniculata (rutaceae, mock orange)and Melia azederach (meliaceae, white cedar) also have panicles of white flowers. (Someone might wish to correct me if I'm wrong there, I don't have any experience of M paniculata, but am assuming from the common and botanical names that it has white flowers in panicles.)

After careful consideration, I am confident enough that my curry leaf trees aren't neem, but you had me going there for a while. Yes, they are very similar.

Time: 3rd July 2015 9:15pm

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About the Author Manfred
tully
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len says...
yeh i may have to wait until curry plant gets bigger, not sure if neem or curry will be weed status, i pick all berries and as neem berries are edible that will be their destiny, so are curry leafs seen as the same?

neem makes a good insecticide, used it once so far, would curry leaf be the same use?

to me the aroma of both is identical, a pleasant rather than bad aroma.

julie i did google the picks of the structure of both look the same to me

guess lots of things we grow can have weed potential? olives come to mind, we just need to manage our gardens and be wise and mindfull, all part of good husbandry

thanks for help, time will tell.

Time: 4th July 2015 5:42am

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Original Post was last edited: 4th July 2015 5:41am

About the Author len
glenwood qld
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len says...
if they smell almost same(to me same) then how should each taste?

ta

Time: 4th July 2015 8:21am

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About the Author len
glenwood qld
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