LEUCAENA
Leucaena
Benth. in Hook., J. Bot. 416. 1842; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 10: 53; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org
Evergreen trees or shrubs, unarmed. Leaves bipinnate; stipules deciduous, small, setaceous; petiolar gland often present between the lower pair of pinnae; leaflets 1 to many pairs, numerous when small, few when large, oblique. Inflorescence axillary, solitary or fascicled, pedunculate globose heads, sometimes racemosely aggregated. Bracts usually 2. Flowers sessile, actinomorphic, usually bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous. Sepals 5, connate, tubular- campanulate, short toothed. Petals 5, free or nearly so, valvate. Stamens 10, free, exserted; anthers mostly eglandular, ovate, oblong or globose, often pilose. Ovary stipitate, unilocular, ovules numerous, placentation marginal; style filiform. Legumes stipitate, broadly linear, oblong or linear oblong, dehiscent, 2-valved, continuous within. Seeds transverse, ovoid, compressed, brown, glossy.
24 species
Leucaena leucocephala
Leucaena leucocephala
(Lam.) de Wit, Taxon 10(2): 53. 1961; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 10: 53; Fl., Pak. @ eFloras.org; L. glauca, Benth. in Hook., J. Bot. 4: 416. 1842; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed.1: 197. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Mimosa leucocephala Lam., Encycl. Meth. Bot. 1: 12. 1783.
Large shrub or small tree, 2-6 m tall, unarmed evergreen; bark greenish brown, slightly fissured; branchlets pubescent, glabrous when old, with brown lenticels. Stipules very small, deltoid or setaceous, deciduous. Leaves bipinnate, pinnae 4-9 pairs, rachis 8-15(-20) cm long, pubescent, ending in a soft bristle; black glands on rachis in between lowest pairs of pinnae; pinnae 5-10 cm long, rachillae pubescent, ending in a soft bristle; leaflets 6-17 pairs, rather distant, sessile, 10-13 mm x 2-4 mm, linear-oblong, main vein close to upper margin, acute, glabrous or subglabrous, margin ciliate, glaucous, base oblique. Inflorescence dense globose pedunculate heads, 1.5-2(-3) cm in diameter; peduncles 2-4 cm long, deciduous, pubescent, 1-3 together in the upper leaf axils. Bracts pubescent, deciduous. Flowers sessile, actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, whitish. Calyx 2-3.5 mm long, tubular-campanulate, glabrous; teeth 5, short, villous. Petals 5, free, valvate, ca. 5 mm long, oblong-spathulate, hairy on the back near the tips. Stamens 10, free, much exserted; anthers small, oblong, eglandular. Ovary shortly stipitate, pubescent, unilocular, ovules many, placentation marginal; style slender, stigma minute. Legumes straight, strap-shaped, thin, flat, 10-18 cm x 1.5-2 cm, leathery, apex triangular, shortly beaked, base attenuate, stipitate (stipe 1-2.5 cm long), glabrous dark brown, sutures slightly thickened, dehiscent, valves 2. Seeds 15-25, 5-9 mm x 3-4.5 mm, brown, glossy, narrowly ovoid, flat, with a pleurogram on each side.
Common Names: Wild Tamarind, Horse Tamarind, ipil-ipil, tan-tan, Leucaena, White Popinac, White Babool, Lead Tree; Safed Babool (Hindi)
