Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.
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Description
Albizia lebbeck is a large deciduous tree, usually 15–25 m tall, with a broad spreading crown and a straight trunk. The bark is greyish-brown, rough and fissured in older trees, while young branches are smooth and greenish. Leaves are bipinnately compound, with a swollen petiole base and numerous small leaflets. Each pinna bears several pairs of opposite leaflets that are oblong to elliptic, usually 1–4 cm long, with entire margins and rounded tips. Flowers are bisexual, fragrant, creamy-white to greenish-yellow, and arranged in globose axillary heads. Numerous stamens are long and conspicuous, giving the flowers a brush-like appearance. Fruits are flat, dry, indehiscent pods, usually 10–30 cm long, turning brown at maturity and containing several flattened seeds. Mature pods often produce a rattling sound when shaken, giving rise to the common name "Woman’s Tongue Tree."
Diagnostic Characters
Distribution
Native range: Native to Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia.
In Pakistan: Common in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. In Pakistan found plains.
Phenology
Ethnobotany & Uses
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Where it grows on campus
Taxonomic Notes
Albizia lebbeck belongs to the mimosoid lineage of Fabaceae and was traditionally placed with Acacia. Molecular studies have separated many former Acacia species into genera such as Albizia and Vachellia.