The moringa tree (Moringa oleifera) we were looking at really was quite unremarkable – less statuesque than the rambutan tree nearby and far less imposing than the mango trees on the other side of the road. Yet moringa (daun kelor in Bahasa Indonesia) was once believed to have such intense magical properties that a simple sprig of this "broomstick of the gods" would be used to brush the evil spirits away from the resting place of a deceased person.