Melia azedarach is a tree to 15 m; bark gray shallowly fissured; leaf scar triangular; buds gray, fuzzy.
Leaves alternate doubly pinnate, leaflets opposite, irregularly toothed and lobed.
Flowers lilac, malodorous; inflorescence branched, to 40 cm long; blooms May.
Fruit fleshy, yellow, about 1 cm wide, rounded, 1-seeded, Sept.-Oct, persisting into winter (Dirr 1990); fruit poisonous, can be fatal to children if eaten (Kingsbury 1964).
Wetland status: NL.
Frequency in New York City: Very infrequent.
Habitat: Escaped, weedy, shade tolerant. Soil pH 4-8 (USDA, NRCS 2010).