''Albizia adianthifolia'' is a tree in the family
. It is commonly known as the flat-crown. Its range extends from eastern
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
to
Tropical Africa
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropi ...
.
Description
This is a large deciduous tree with a spreading, flat crown, growing to a height of . A profusion of bright green leaves and heavily scented, fluffy flowers are produced in winter or spring. The leaves are twice compound with the leaflets being 2–5 x 8 mm in size. This tree favours sandy soils in warm, high rainfall areas. In South Africa it is found in
coastal lowland forests.
Cultivation
''Albizia adianthifolia'' is cultivated as an
ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
. The attractive habit of these trees makes them a popular garden tree, often being retained as a
native plant
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
in suburban gardens when other
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
vegetation is removed. The trees usually produce abundant seeds which are easily grown in sandy soil.
Ecological significance
Elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
s browse the leaves of these trees and
blue duiker
The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are ident ...
favour the leaves and seedpods as food. The larvae of the satyr charaxes butterfly (''
Charaxes ethalion
''Charaxes ethalion'', the satyr emperor or satyr charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.[Southern African Sand Forest
Southern African Sand Forest is a sand forest, or a subtropical forest plant community of the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests biome. It grows on ancient sand dunes in northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique. In South Africa ...]
Gallery
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_stem.JPG, Trunk of ''Albizia adianthifolia''
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_canopy.JPG, Branches and canopy
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_new_foliage_14_06_2010.JPG, New foliage and flowers
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_green_pod.JPG, Foliage and a green pod
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_pods_14_06_2010.JPG, Mature pods and leaves
Image:Albizia_adianthifolia_open_pod_14_06_2010.JPG, An open pod with seeds
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2720950
adianthifolia
Trees of Africa
Garden plants of Africa
Ornamental trees