''Paraserianthes lophantha'' (syn. ''Albizia lophantha''), the

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...

wattle, Bicol wattle, Cape wattle, Crested wattle, Brush wattle or plume albizia, is a fast-growing tree with creamy-yellow, bottlebrush like flowers. It is the sole species in genus ''Paraserianthes''. It is a small tree (uppermost height approximately ) that occurs naturally along the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

King George Sound King George Sound (Mineng ) is a sound (geography), sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came in ...

. It is also native to

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, and the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

. It was first spread beyond southwest Australia by Baron

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

, who gave packets of ''P. lophantha'' seeds to early explorers under the assumption that if they planted the seeds at their campsites, the trees would indicate the routes they travelled. It is considered a weed in the parts of Australia where it is not indigenous, as well as in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1806 as ''Acacia lophantha'' by Willdenow, but was transferred to the genus ''Paraserianthes'' by Nielsen, Guinet and Baretta-Kuipers in 1983. The genus ''Paraserianthes'' originally comprised four species, divided into two sections based on morphological traits by Nielsen.Nielsen, I., Guinet, P., Baretta-Kuipers, T., 1983. Studies in the Malesian, Australian and Pacific Ingeae (Leguminosae - Mimosoideae): the genera Archidendropsis, Wallaceodendron, Paraserianthes, Parachidendron and Serianthes (part 1). Bull. Mus. natl. Hist. nat. Paris, 4, ser. 5, sect. B, Adansonia 3, 303-329.Nielsen, I., Guinet, P., Baretta-Kuipers, T., 1983. Studies in the Malesian, Australian and Pacific Ingeae (Leguminosae - Mimosoideae): the genera Archidendropsis, Wallaceodendron, Paraserianthes, Parachidendron and Serianthes (part 2). Bull. Mus. natl. Hist. nat. Paris, 4, ser. 5, sect. B, Adansonia 4, 335-360. Section ''Paraserianthes'' included ''P. lophantha'' with two recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, and section ''Falcataria'' included three species (''P. falcataria, P. pullenii,'' and ''P. toona''). Based on morphology, ''P. falcataria'' (L.) I.C.Nielsen was moved to the genus '' Falcataria'' by Barneby and Grimes,Barneby, R.C., Grimes, J.W., 1996. Silk tree, Guanacaste, Monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimoseae of the Americas. Part I. Abarema, Albizia and allies. Mem. New York Botanical Garden 74: 1-292 and renamed ''

Falcataria moluccana ''Falcataria falcata'' (syns. Albizia falcata, Falcataria moluccana and Paraserianthes falcataria), commonly known as the Moluccan albizia, is a species of fast-growing tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, ...

'' (Miq.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes. Brown ''et al.'' used biogeographical, morphological and molecular studies to completely separate of these sections into two genera as ''Paraserianthes sensu'' Nielsen was

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

. Now ''P. pullenii'' (Verdc.) I.C. Nielsen = '' Falcataria pullenii'' (Verdc.) G.K. Brown, D.J. Murphy & P.Y. Ladiges; and ''P. toona'' (F.M. Bailey) I.C. Nielsen = '' Falcataria toona'' (Bailey), G.K. Brown, D.J. Murphy & P.Y. Ladiges. ''Paraserianthes'' section remained in the genus with only ''P. lophantha''.

Subspecies

''Paraserianthes lophantha'' includes two subspecies:Brown, G.K., Murphy, D.J., Ladiges, P.Y., 2011. Relationships of the Australo-Malesian genus Paraserianthes (Mimosoideae: Leguminosae) identifies the sister group of Acacia sensu stricto and two biogeographical tracks. Cladistics 27: 380-390. *''P. lophantha'' subsp. ''lophantha'' in southwestern Australia *''P. lophantha'' subsp. ''montana'' (Jungh.) I.C. Nielsen in high elevation sites in Western Indonesia (Sumatara, Java and Western Nusa Tenggara Province). Paraserianthes lophantha seed pods

Taxonomy

Subspecies

See also

References

Further reading