Albizia carbonaria (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Albizia carbonaria Britton

Family: Leguminosae - Mimosoideae

Synonyms

• Albizia sumatrana Steenis.

Distribution

Native to tropical Central and South America, introduced into India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Uses

Grown as a shade tree in tea plantations in Asia, in coffee plantations in Puerto Rico and Colombia.

Observations

• Tree up to 25 m tall and 60 cm in diameter, with flattened, spreading, thin crown. Bark light grey, scaly.
• Leaves alternate, bipinnate, 10-25 cm long; pinnae 8-17 pairs, 7-10 cm long; leaflets 15-25 pairs, oblong, 0.5-1 cm × 1.5 mm, base oblique or unequal, apex blunt, upper surface dull green, puberulous, lower surface paler.
• Flowers in many-headed clusters; calyx narrow, bell-shaped, hairy, 5-toothed, greenish; corolla 5 mm long, with narrow tube, 5-lobed.
• Fruit a 15-25-seeded pod, abruptly pointed at apex, short cuneate at base.

A. carbonaria grows rapidly, is short-lived and its branches are fragile. The wood is pale brown and soft. In tea plantations in Indonesia it is grown up to 1300 m altitude.

Selected sources

8, 51, 94, 119.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen