Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Tree to 12 m tall; bark gray, smooth; branches cylindrical, lenticellate, glabrous. Leaves 10-20 cm long; pinnae 2-5 pairs; rachis nearly cylindrical, glabrous to puberulent, with a solitary elliptic gland near the base of the petiole; leaflets opposite, 4-16 per pinna, 2.5-5 cm long, oblong to ovate, chartaceous, the apex rounded and notched, the base rounded-obtuse, asymmetrical, the margins entire; stipules early deciduous. Heads axillary, hemispherical, with a central larger, staminate flower, the peduncles to 10 cm long. Calyx 2.5-3 mm long, pubescent; corolla 8-10 mm long, light yellow; stamens yellow, the filaments 4 times longer than the corolla. Legume 13-24 x 3-4 cm, flattened, strawcolored, the margins thickened, straight or depressed between seeds, dehiscent along one suture. Seeds 9-10 mm long, elliptic, flattened, light brown.

  • Discussion

    Common names: kitty katties, rattle bush, sheck sheck, Tibet tree, tibit, tipit, woman's tongue.

  • Distribution

    A few individuals along roadsides. Lind Point (A2516, A3981). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; native to tropical Asia, cultivated and naturalized in tropical America.

    Asia| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|