Common Name:

General Information

Leucaena lanceolata is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree usually growing 5 - 15 metres tall, occasionally reaching 20 metres. The bole can be 20 - 50cm in diameter. Typically branchy when young, older trees develop a short clear bole that is unbranched for up to 5 metres, with upright angular branching and a narrow, open crown[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food and source of wood, it is occasionally cultivated as a food crop[].
Leucaena lanceolata is widely distributed and thrives on disturbance. Despite extensive clearance of the forest from throughout its natural range, it remains abundant in many areas and is of little or no conservation concern[]. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Southern N. America - western Mexico from Baja Sur to Oaxaca and northwest Chiapas.

Habitat

A canopy or sub-canopy tree in seasonally dry deciduous tropical forest, also in secondary dry forest, dry thorn scrub forest and dominant in secondary regrowth after cultivation of milpas; at elevations up to 1,100 metres, mainly below 400 metres[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Tree
Height	12.00 m
Growth Rate	Medium
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Leucaena lanceolala is a truly tropical species and although it is distributed as far north as Chihuahua, well north of the
Tropic of Cancer, it does not tolerate frost. Throughout its wide distribution, rainfall is highly seasonal, usually between 900 - 1,500mm, with a 3 - 6 month dry season[].
Leucaena species generally require a sunny position. They are often found in the wild on poor, shallow and dry soils, usually overlying a calcareous rock. Most of them do not thrive on acid soils. Most species experience a long dry season and are more or less drought tolerant.
Leucaena lanceolata as a whole, and var lanceolata in particular, evidently thrives on disturbance and can be very common and weedy along roadsides in parts of its native range or in coastal vegetation and on dunes. Given these tendencies it poses significant risks of becoming a ruderal weed of open disturbed habitats where introduced[].
The unripe seedpods are harvested by climbing the trees and lopping the terminal branches or groups of pods, often crudely, with machetes, small knives or cutting poles. Annual pollarding in this way apparently causes only limited damage to the trees which resprout and fruit annually[].
The 40cm long pods of var. sousae from parts of coastal Oaxaca are extremely large, exceeding the dimensions of any other Leucaena species[].
Provenances from the southern part of the range around the isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Oaxaca and Chiapas, are generally faster growing and fonn larger trees, up to 20 metres tall[].
Plants are moderately susceptible to psyllid damage[].
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

Immature seeds - raw or cooked[]. Often eaten raw as a snack when working in the field, the seeds are also often used as a garnish on cooked foods or added to stews, mixed with beans and maize tortillas etc. After removal from the pods, the unripe seeds can be dried and stored for later use or ground into a flour and mixed with wheat, corn etc[]. The seeds are 6 - 11mm long, 4 - 9mm wide, there are 17,000 - 39,000 seeds/kg[].

We have no record of edibility for the seedpods of this species, but the immature seedpods of many species in Mexico are eaten raw or cooked. The pale to dark orange-brown seedpods are 100 - 380mmm long, 8 - 36mm wide, containing 13 - 18 seeds. One to six seedpods are produced on each flower head[]

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The wood is moderately dense and has good properties. It is used locally for poles and has potential for other uses such as sawn timber, furniture and flooring[].
The wood is used for firewood[].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak for 24 hours in warm water then sow in containers[]. Seedlings and direct sowing are recommended methods of propagation where soil-moisture conditions permit and economic weed control can be maintained. Seed pre-treatment involves soaking in hot water for 2 minutes or nicking the seed coat at the distal (cotyledon) end, using a sharp tool like scalpel, knife or nail clipper. A germination rate of 50-80% in 8 days can be achieved[].
Cuttings of semi-ripe wood. Vegetative propagation has been successful in relatively few locations, reflecting critical environmental requirements, or possibly systemic fungi. The use of bare-root cuttings has worked in Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand[].

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