Albizia lebbeck

Albizia lebbeck






"Mimosa
speciosa" redirects here. As described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin
this refers to the Lebbeck. The Mimosa speciosa of Carl Peter Thunberg,
however, is Albizia julibrissin.


Albizia lebbeck


Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosidae
(unranked): Eurosids I
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Mimosoideae
Tribe: Ingeae
Genus: Albizia
Species: A. lebbeck
Binomial name
Albizia lebbeck
(L.) Benth.
Synonyms
Many, see text
Albizia
lebbeck (शिरीष) is a species of Albizia, native to tropical southern
Asia, and widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and
subtropical regions. English names for it include Lebbeck, Lebbek Tree,
Flea Tree, Frywood, Koko and Woman's tongues Tree. The latter name is a
play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Being
one of the most widespread and common species of Albizia worldwide, it
is often simply called "siris" though this name may refer to any locally
common member of the genus.
It
is a tree growing to a height of 18-30 m tall with a trunk 50 cm to 1 m
in diameter. The leaves are bipinnate, 7.5–15 cm long, with one to four
pairs of pinnae, each pinna with 6–18 leaflets. The flowers are white,
with numerous 2.5–3.8 cm long stamens, and very fragrant. The fruit is a
pod 15-30 cm long and 2.5-5.0 cm broad, containing six to twelve
seeds.
Uses


Its
uses include environmental management, forage, medicine and wood. It is
cultivated as a shade tree in North and South America. In India, the
tree is used to produce timber. Wood from Albizia lebbeck has a density
of 0.55-0.66 g/cm3 or higher
Even
where it is not native, some indigenous herbivores are liable to
utilize Lebbeck as a food resource. For example, the Greater Rhea (Rhea
americana) has been observed feeding on it in the cerrado of Brazil.
It is also used as an extract in a supposed cure for insufficient male sexual organ size

Pharmacology
Lebbeck
is used as an astringent, to treat boils, cough, to treat the eye, flu,
gingivitis, lung problems, pectoral problems, is used as a tonic, and
is used to treat abdominal tumorsThe bark is used medicinally to
treat inflammation[8]. Albizia lebbeck is also psychoactive










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