Albizia odoratissima

Albizia odoratissima (L.f.) Benth. in Hook, London J. Bot. 3: 88. 1844; Baker. in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 299. 1879; Talbot, For. Fl. Bomb. Pres. and Sind, 1: 497. 1911; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1. 185. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Fl. China @ eFloras.org 10: 64; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org; Acacia odoratissima (L.f.) Willd., Sp. Pl. 4: 1063. 1806; Mimosa odoratissima L.f., Suppl. Pl. 437. 1782.

An evergreen tree with erect stem up to 15 m tall; bark dark grey, irregularly fissured and with horizontal lenticels, young shoots with brownish hairs. Leaves alternate, bipinnate; rachis 10-20 cm long with a large blackish gland near the base and sometimes 1-2 more between the upper pairs of pinnae; pinnae 3-4 (-8) pairs, subsessile, 4.5-9 cm long; leaflets 7-20 pairs per pinna, 1.8-2.5 cm x 5-10 mm, oblique, main vein eccentric, close to upper margin, leaflets oblong, usually obtuse or acute, pubescent above and below or sometimes glabrous above. Stipules filiform, ca. 2.5 mm, caducous. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, sessile, pale-yellow, fragrant, in pedunculate heads, solitary or in fascicles of 2-4, arranged in large terminal panicles, peduncles 1.2-3.2 cm long; bracts ca. 2.5 mm long, ovate, acute, densely brown-velvety. Heads with 10-15 flowers. Calyx ca. 1.2 mm long, densely pubescent, teeth 5, minute. Corolla ca. 8 mm long, grey-pubescent outside; lobes 5, ca. 2.5 mm long, lanceolate, acute. Stamens ca. 20, ca. 1.5 cm long; filaments connate below, staminal tube half as long as corolla tube; anthers small, eglandular. Ovary stipitate, stipe ca. 1 mm long, tomentose, unilocular with many ovules, placentation marginal; style filiform; nearly as long as stamens, green. Legume 10-30 cm long and 1.7-3.0 cm broad, reddish brown, thin, shining, hairy when young, glabrous when old, shortly stipitate. Seeds 6-12, ovoid, ca. 9 mm x 6 mm, pleurogram distinct.

Flowering : April to June; Fruiting: October-November
Common Names: Black Siris, Siris Tree, Woman's Tongue, Ceylon Rosewood, Fragrant Albizia, Tea Shade tree; Kala Siris (Hindi)