Linnaeus created confusion when he named the genus Morinda. The plant was said to remind him of Morus indica, the true Indian mulberry in the Moraceae, the fig family. Morinda has around 80 species of 'mulberries' that aren't really mulberries.

The noni, its Hawaiian name, produces flowers in a round to cylindrical inflorescence. When pollinated, the calyx (the sepals) of each flower becomes a succulent fruit. The individual fruits are packed tightly together forming an aggregate fruit. The fruit ripens to a pale yellow, then white before falling from the tree.

The fruit may be eaten raw or cooked, but the best known product is noni juice. The fruit are packed into jars and allowed to sit in the sun for about a week. The juice seeps from the fruit and is strained for later use to treat wounds and infections, or as a tonic and analgesic for all those effects of old age.

(Compiled from: Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY 1976 and "Great Morinda", Mangrove and Wetland Wildlife at Sungei Buloh Nature Park)