Albizia lebbeck

Albizia lebbeck

Albizia lebbeck
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Albizia
Species:	A. lebbeck
Binomial name
Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.

 

 Habitat:

Albizia lebbeck 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.

Ethnobotany:

Lebbeck is an astringent, also used by some cultures 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 tumors. The bark is used medicinally to treat inflammation. This information was obtained via ethnobotanical records, which are a reference to how a plant is used by indigenous peoples, not verifiable, scientific or medical evaluation of the effectiveness of these claims. Albizia lebbeck is also psychoactive.

Taxonomy:

The taxonomic history of A. lebbeck is somewhat convoluted. It was originally described by Carl Linnaeus as Mimosa lebbeck. George Bentham placed the species in its present genus, but other authors believed that the plant described by Linnaeus was the related Albizia kalkora as described by Prain (based on the Mimosa kalkora of William Roxburgh), and erroneously referred to this species as Albizia lebbeck. However, Francisco Manuel Blanco used Mimosa lebbeck to refer to Albizia retusa ssp. retusa. In addition, the specific epithet is occasionally misspelled lebbek^.

Junior synonyms are:

• Acacia lebbeck (L.) Willd.
• Acacia macrophylla Bunge
• Acacia speciosa (Jacq.) Willd.
• Albizia latifolia B.Boivin
• Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. var. leucoxylon Hassk.
• Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. var. pubescens Haines
• Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. var. rostrata Haines

Albizia rostrata Miq. Is Archidendron globosum.

• Feuilleea lebbeck (L.) Kuntze
• Inga borbonica Hassk.
• Inga leucoxylon Hassk.
• Mimosa lebbeck L.
• Mimosa lebbek L. (orth.var.)
• Mimosa sirissa Roxb.
• Mimosa speciosa Jacq.

Mimosa speciosa Thunb. is Albizia julibrissin.

• Pithecellobium splitgerberianum Miq.