Common Name:

General Information

Albizia lebbekoides is a tree, usually growing 8 - 15 metres tall but sometimes up to 32 metres. The bole can be up to 70cm in diameter[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine and source of wood and tannins. It is sometimes used as a shade tree.

Known Hazards

The bark contains a toxic alkaloid[].

Botanical References

Range

Southeast Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea.

Habitat

Deciduous forests in dry localities, less commonly in savannah and evergreen forests, preferring open locations, such as forest margins, road and stream sides, and forest clearings, occasionally in shaded habitats, at elevations up to 800 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Tree
Height	0.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows in the wild in both red volcanic soils and limestone[].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[].

Edible Uses

The tannin-rich bark is used in the manufacture of a fermented drink made from sugar cane[].

Medicinal

The bark contains tannins and is astringent. It is used just like many other tannin-rich barks to treat conditions such as colic, diarrhoea etc[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The tree is sometimes planted to provide shade[, ].

Other Uses

The bark contains 12 - 17% tannins. It is used to preserve fishing nets[].
The tannins yield a red dye, formerly used for colouring cloth and known as 'soga tekik' in eastern Java[, ].

The dirty white coloured wood is durable and little attacked by insects. It is too light for construction purposes[]. It is suited for indoor construction[]. Paddy mills are constructed from the wood[, ].
The wood is used for fuel[].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing.

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Captcha: if i have 3 bananas, and i eat them all, how many bananas did i just eat?