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| Albizia | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 Persian Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin),
foliage and blossoms |
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| About 150 species, see List of Albizia species | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Albizzia Benth. |
Albizia is a genus of about 150 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Central, South, and southern North America and Australia, but mostly in the Old World tropics. Some species are considered weedy.
They are commonly called silk trees or sirises. Peculiarly, the obsolete form of spelling the scientific name - with double 'z' - has stuck, so that another commonly used term is albizzias (though the form albizias is also found, particularly in species that are not widely known under a common name). The scientific name refers to the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who in the mid-18th century introduced siris to Europe.
These are usually small trees or shrubs with a short lifespan - though the famous Samán del Guère near Maracay in Venezuela is a huge Albizia saman specimen and several hundred years old. The leaves are pinnately or bipinnately compound. Their small flowers are in bundles, with showy stamens much longer than the petals. Confusingly, some species are given the name "mimosa" which correctly belongs to species in the related genus Mimosa. Unlike those of Mimosa, Albizia flowers have much more than 10 stamens. Albizia can also be told apart from another large related genus, Acacia, since its flowers have their stamens joined at the base whereas in Acacia stamens are free (separated).1.
Persian Silk Tree or Pink Siris (Albizia julibrissin) extends well north into temperate regions in East Asia and is by far the cold-hardiest species. It tolerates temperatures down to about -22°F (-30°C), provided it gets adequate summer heat to ripen the shoots. In North America it is commonly grown as an ornamental tree, but has become naturalized in several US States, and is regarded as an invasive species.
Albizia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moths of the genus Endoclita inclulding E. damor, E. malabaricus and E. sericeus.
 Albizia lebbeck (habit) |
 Albizia lebbeck (leaves and fruit) |
Taxonomy
Numerous species placed in Albizia by early authors were eventually moved to other genera, most notably Archidendron. Other genera of Ingeae (Abarema, Archidendropsis, Balizia, Blanchetiodendron, Calliandra, Cathormion, Enterolobium, Havardia, Hesperalbizia, Hydrochorea, Pararchidendron, Paraserianthes, Pseudosamanea and Serianthes) have also received their share of supposed Albizia species, as have the Mimoseae Newtonia and Schleinitzia, and Acaciaverification needed from the Acacieae. Some presumed "silk trees" are in fact misidentified members of the not very closely related Erythrophleum from the Caesalpinioideae and the Faboideae Lebeckia.2
The delimitation of Falcataria and Pithecellobium, close relatives of Albizia, is notoriously complex, with species having been moved between the genera time and again, and probably will continue to do so. These include for example Falcataria moluccana (Moluccan Albizia, formerly Albizia moluccana), a common shade tree on tea plantations. Other closely-related genera like Chloroleucon and Samanea are often merged with Albizia entirely.2
Gallery of Albizia procera
_leaves_at_canopy_at_Jayanti,_Duars,_West_Bengal_W_Picture_212.jpg) leaves at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. |
_pod_at_Jayanti,_Duars,_West_Bengal_W_Picture_215.jpg) pod at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. |
_at_Jayanti,_Duars,_West_Bengal_Im_Picture_211.jpg) at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. |
_trunk_at_Jayanti,_Duars,_West_Bengal_W_Picture_214.jpg) trunk at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. |
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Singh, Gurcharan (2004). Plant Systematics: An Integrated Approach. Science Publishers. pp. 445. ISBN 1578083516. http://books.google.com/books?id=In_Lv8iMt24C.
- ^ a b ILDIS (2005)
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Albizia |
- International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS) (2005): Genus Albizia. Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 2008-MAR-30.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 1 January 2009, at 12:27.
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