Re: [gardeners] Have you grown these?

Sullivan Peggy (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 13 Dec 1998 17:46:24 -0500

Margaret L. wrote:

> As I recall prior to the outbreak of my email woes, Liz identified the
> Kari leaves as large. Murraya koenegii leaves are tiny.  That wouldn't
> be it, AFAIK.  Margaret L

 How large is large?  My M. koenegii leaves are about 1 in to 1.25 in.
 long and about .5 in. wide at their widest point.  This is on a not
 too happy container grown plant.  They might be larger on a plant in
 the ground in an appropriate climate.  In any case, they are about the
 same size and have the same odor as the "curry leaves" my southern
 Indian friends buy fresh when they go to NJ to stock up on stuff they
 cannot buy here locally.  The picture in Deni Brown's book shows what
 might be larger leaves -- a bit more rounded at the tips than mine, but 
 it is hard to tell.  Perhaps there are several cultivars.    

 I, perhaps mistakenly, thought that the "narrow leaf stuff" that Liz was
 saying that she did not want was the greyish "curry plant" Helichrysum 
 angustifolium, that is more commonly sold by herbalists.  Its leaves 
 are about the size of rosemary leaves.  The Helichrysum smells like the 
 bottled curry powder my mother cooked with.  The M. koenegii leaves have
 an entirely different smell and taste.
   
 If anyone knows more I would love to hear it.

 Peggy Sullivan, in NE Pa., zone 5, still waiting for precipitation.