The toothbrush tree, Salvadora persica (other names Galenia asiatica, Salvadora indica, "Peelu" or "Pīlu"), is a small tree or shrub with a crooked trunk, seldom more than one foot in diameter, its bark scabrous and cracked, whitish with pendulous extremities. The root bark of the tree is light brown ( sand like colur ) and the inner surfaces are of even lighter shade brown , the odour is like cress and its taste is warm and pungent.