Family: Rubiaceae

Indian mulberry or noni in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is a relatively small evergreen tree, reaching up to 20 feet depending on its location. Noni was introduced to Hawaiʻi as a canoe plant by early Polynesians. Today, noni can be found throughout the region and is one of the most significant sources of traditional medicines among Pacific Island societies.  Shiny green leaves are round to oblong shaped. White tubular flowers have pointy petals and emerge from the tops of developing compound fruits. Ripe fleshy fruits are opaque white to yellowish-white in color. Noni fruits are known for being particularly foul-smelling, almost like vomit. The branches are uniquely 4-sided with rounded angles.

Habitat & Uses

Noni is native from Southeastern Asia (Indonesia) to Australia, and can now be found pantropically. Noni possesses a wide range of environmental tolerances, growing naturally in dry-mesic sites, lowland coastal areas, and as an important understory forest species. It is one of the first plants to colonize harsh waste areas or lava flows. In Hawaiʻi, noni can be found cultivated and naturalized in dry-mesic regions (0-1600 ft.) including disturbed hala forests, alien grasslands, tide pools, and gulches.

All parts of the noni can be used. Noni was traditionally utilized to make yellow-red dyes from the inner bark/roots, as a famine food, for hair oil extracts from the fruit, and for various wood crafts.  However, noni is most well-known for its medicinal properties. In Hawaiian culture, noni leaves were burned or mashed and used to treat boils, bruises, sores, and wounds. Immature fruits were used to treat boils, broken bones, and concussions. Stem bark was applied to cuts and root sap to skin eruptions. Modern use of noni tonics are marketed as treatment for a wide variety of illnesses, but there has yet to be concrete scientific support for many of those claims. Other modern health and cosmetic products are also now made from noni leaves and fruits.

Landscape & Cultivation

Noni is an exceptionally hardy tree that thrives in full sun and across a wide range of soil and climate conditions. Mature trees can tolerate drought, shade, fire, waterlogging, salt spray, and high winds. Its glossy leaves make for a beautiful tree, but be careful where you plant this tree given its smelly fruit litter. Noni is sometimes viewed as a weed in some settings as it can be difficult to kill due to its ability to rapidly regenerate even after severe pruning.

Noni can be cultivated as intercropping within traditional agroforestry subsistence farming systems or as a monocrop with 10-15 foot spacing. Noni is relatively easy to propagate from seed and by cuttings. However, they can face many pests like aphids, scales, weevils, leaf miners, whiteflies, caterpillars, thrips, and mites. Overfertilization will attract sap feeding bugs and leads to sooty mold. Dry conditions are also related to more insect damage.

Name Origins

The genus name Morinda is a combination of the Latin words morus for mulberry and indicus meaning Indian. This is because the fruit of the Indian mulberry looks like that of the true mulberry (Morus alba). The species name citrifolia refers to the citrus like foliage of the noni.

Plant Uses:

• Container plant
• Cultural significance
• Edible
• Medicinal
• Privacy / screening

Plant Dangers:

• No dangers