Mwarubaini

In Kiswahili the name of most trees start with 'M' which immediately defines the name as being that of a tree.

There are two Mwarubaini -

• kamili: meaning exact/perfect.
• nusu: meaning half.

Despite the two trees looking alike, they are different species and many people do not understand the difference.

The name indicates that the tree has 40 uses

• Kamili is Azadirachta indica - Neem. This tree has perhaps 60 uses and is an important medicinal tree.
• Nusu is Melia azedarach - Bead Tree. This tree is generally piosonous despite the fact that it is used medicinally. The leaves are a good insecticide.

The trees look alike and the flowers are alike, but see the trees side by side and you can see the difference. Even the fruits look alike. The way to tell which tree is which is by the seed. Strip off the flesh of the fruit and the seed of the Kamili is smooth; the seed of the Nusu is ribbed with a hole at each end making it handy to make a bead out of it. The coat of this 'seed' is very hard and actually there are five small, black seeds inside.

I was demonstrating this with actual fruit to a group at the village of Nadasoito and while I was talking to individuals, I missed the routine nawa, washing hands before eating. I ate a cob of roasted maize. That evening I was violently sick! Poison from the Nusu (Melia) remained on my fingers and I ingested it.

The scary thing is that around the Arusha region, it is just too cold for Kamili to grow well, but Nusu thrives. People think it is Kamili and use it for treatment of several ailments including malaria! Other know that Nusu is piosonous and use it to purge themselves if they think they need a 'good cleanout'. Others try to abort unwanted pregnancy using Nusu - it does not cause abortion - but I do not like to contemplate what it might do for that small child after birth.

A good use for Nusu leaves is to put into books to stop silverfish, and into bags of Maize/Beans to stop insect attack.

I will detail these two species later.