India GO
Pilu, the toothbrush tree of dry and salty ground
पीलू
Pilu is Salvadora persica, the toothbrush tree: a low, crooked, pale-green tree that grows where almost nothing else will, on dry and salty ground. Its twigs are the miswak, the chewing stick that cleaned teeth across India, Arabia and Africa long before plastic brushes, and its small red berries are eaten straight from the branch. In Hindi it is पीलू (pilu); in Braj it is called jaal.
A low, crooked, pale-green tree of dry saline ground with soft drooping branches and small fleshy leaves. Its twigs are the classic chewing stick, and its small red berries are eaten straight off the branch in early summer.
👀 How to recognise it
A tangled pale-green crown low over dry ground, with limp branches that hang almost to the soil. The leaves are thick and slightly succulent, and a broken twig smells sharply of mustard.
Where to see it
Govardhan
Pilu is one of the trees that holds the dry, salty ground of the Braj plain where almost nothing else will grow, and its chewing sticks were sold in the Braj markets long before toothbrushes. It is the tree behind the place names built on «jhal» and «jaal» in this landscape.
Radha Kund and Shyama Kund (often) · Govardhan Hill & Parikrama Marg (often)
A tree for hard ground
Pilu is a small evergreen, typically 6–7 m tall, with a crooked trunk, whitish bark and branch ends that droop towards the soil. It is highly tolerant of salty soil and can get by on as little as 200 mm of rain a year, which is why it is one of the few trees on the saline patches of the Braj plain. Its natural range runs from North Africa and the Middle East to India.
The smell is the easiest test: a broken twig smells sharply of mustard. That pungency is why one of its English names is «mustard tree».
The original toothbrush
A fresh pilu twig, chewed at one end until it frays into bristles, is the miswak. Sticks from this tree have been used to clean teeth for more than a thousand years, especially by Muslim communities in India, Arabia and Africa; in Islamic tradition the Prophet Muhammad is said to have used it regularly. In Braj they were sold in the markets long before toothbrushes arrived.
The name travels with the tree. Miswak and arak in Arabic, pilu in Hindi, jaal or khari jaal in Braj; «jhal» is also listed as one of its names, and the India GO notes link the «jhal» and «jaal» place names of Braj to it.
Berries and leaves
In early summer the tree carries clusters of small red fruit, juicy and pungent at the same time, and people eat them fresh off the branch or dried. Elsewhere in its range the fresh leaves are eaten in salads, the seeds yield a detergent oil, and in Namibia the plant is used as drought-resistant fodder for cattle.
Where to see it
In Braj, look on the dry ground and field edges around Radha Kund and Shyama Kund, and along the outer stretches of the Govardhan parikrama, where the soil is thin and salty. Look for a tangled, low crown with limp branches hanging almost to the soil.
❓ FAQ
What is pilu?
Salvadora persica, a small evergreen tree of dry, salty ground, known as the toothbrush or miswak tree.
Can you eat pilu fruit?
Yes. The small red berries are eaten fresh or dried in early summer; they are juicy but pungent.
Is pilu the same as miswak?
Miswak is the chewing stick; pilu is the tree it most often comes from.
What is pilu called in Braj?
जाल (jaal) or खारी जाल (khari jaal), «salty jaal».
Is pilu a protected tree?
It is not listed in the schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act and IUCN lists it as Least Concern, but the old trees around Braj's sacred tanks are part of a pilgrimage landscape: do not cut or strip them.