Albizia procera (Roxb.) Bemth., Lond.J.Bot. 3:89 (1844)

Latin for 'elongate', referring to the fruit.

Synonyms
Acacia elata Voigt
Acacia procera (Roxb.) Willd.
Acacia procera var elata (Roxb.) Baker in Hook.f.
Acacia procera var roxburghiana Fourn.
Albizia procera var. elata (Roxb.) Baker
Albizia procera var. roxburghiana E.Fourn.
Feuilleea procera (Roxb.) Kuntze
Lignum murinum majus Rumph.
Mimosa coriaria Blanco
Mimosa elata Roxb.
Mimosa procera Roxb.

Description
Tree to 30 m; d.b.h. to 60 cm; bole straight or crooked, to c. 9 m. Bark smooth, pale grey-green, yellowish green, yellowish brown or brownish with horizontal ridges, sometimes flaking in thin, small scales, underbark green then orange just below the surface, inner bark pinkish or straw coloured; sapwood straw or dirty white, heartwood deep brown.Branchlets terete, glabrous. Stipules linear or filiform, to 0.5 mm, caducous. Leaves: rachis 10-30 cm, glabrous, a gland 1-2.5 cm above the base, c. narrowly elliptic, sessile, flat and disc-like or with raised margins and concave, 4-10 mm; pinnae 2-5 pairs, opposite or subopposite, 12-20 cm, glabrous, with elliptic glands, c. 1 mm in diameter, below the junctions of the 1-3 distal pairs of petiolules; petiolule c. 2 mm; leaflets 5-1 1 pairs per pinna, opposite, rigidly chartaceous-subcoriaceous, asymmetrically ovate to elliptic or c. rhomboid or c. trapezoid, 2-4.5(-6) by 1-2.2(-3.2) cm; base asymmetrical, half u-uncate/half cuneate, apex rounded or subtruncate, often emarginate, mucronaie; both surfaces sparsely appressed puberulous (upper rarely glabrous); main vein slightly excentric, often diagonal. Inflorescences composed of pedunculate glomerules aggregated into terminal axillary sparsely puberulous panicles; peduncles 2-5 in fascicles, c. 0.8-3 cm, glomerules with 15-30 sessile, uniform, bisexual, pentamerous flowers. Calyx light green, tubular to narrowly funnel-shaped, glabrous, (1.5-)2.5-3 mm; teeth triangular, acute, 0.75-1.2 mm. Corolla greenish white, funnel-shaped, (3.5-)5-6.5 mm, lower part of tube glabrous; lobes elliptic, acute, 2-2.5 mm, puberulous-sericeous at least at apex. Stamens greenish white, to 12.5 mm long, tube longer than the corolla tube, shorter than the corolla. Ovary glabrous, c. 1.5 mm, stipe 0.3-0.5 mm. Pod dark brown or red brown, flat, suaight, linear-oblong, 11.5-20 by 2-2.5 cm, gradually narrowing in a very short stalk, dehiscent, valves chartaceous without thickened margins, glabrous, veins inconspicuous, with distinct marks over the seeds. Seeds obovate-elliptic to elliptic, flattened, c. 7-8.5 by 4.5-6.5 by 15 mm; areole c. 4.5 by 3 mm, pleurogram nearly parallel to the margin, open towards the hilum. [from Flora Malesiana]

Ecology
Commonly found in open secondary forest and in areas with a pronounced dry season. Its habitat ranges from monsoon forest, savanna, pyrogenic grassland, roadsides, dry gullies, to stunted, seasonal swamp forest. It occurs up to 1500 m altitude in the tropics and up to 1200 m in the subtropics. Planting at higher elevations is limited by its susceptibility to frost. The mean annual rainfall is 1700 mm, ranging from 500 mm to 3000 mm, the annual mean minimum temperature is 21 degrees C and annual mean maximum temperature is 32 degrees C. In its natural range in Australia the mean minimum temperature of the coldest month is 11-19 degrees C, the mean maximum temperature of the hottest month 31-34 degrees C. It grows well on shallow soils with a pH of 5.5-7.5, and has a moderate light requirement. In the absence of burning it will colonize alang-alang (Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel) grassland.

Uses
Used for amenity planting, wind-breaks, fire-breaks and the rehabilitation of eroded and degraded soils. It is occasionally planted as a shade tree in tea and coffee. It is also planted for fuelwood and gives excellent charcoal. The wood is used for agricultural implements, moulding, furniture, veneer, and cabinet work. It is also a substitute for walnut. On mountain slopes in Benguet Province in the Philippines the farmers leave Albizia procera trees untouched when clearing land for crops, as the trees cast only a light shade, add nitrogen to the soil and conserve water, and function as a cash reserve as the wood is sought after by local wood carvers. In India and Nepal the leaves are cut for fodder. In former times the bark provided tanning material. Low tannin content (13%), considerable weight loss in drying and difficult harvesting have limited its importance. The pounded bark is used as a fish poison. In Nepal the leaves are used as an insecticide.

Distribution
Occurs naturally from India, throughout South-East Asia to northern Australia, extending northwards to southern China, including Hainan and Taiwan. It does not occur spontaneously in Peninsular Malaysia and has been collected only once in Borneo. It has been introduced into a number of African countries and into Panama and Puerto Rico.

Local names
Burma (Myanmar): sit, kokko-sit.
Cambodia: tramkang', tronum' kamphe:m.
China: Huangdoushu, Feilubinhehuan, Baige.
English: White siris, forest siris (Australian standard trade name), tall albizia.
Indonesia: ki hiyang (Sundanese), wangkal, weru (Javanese).
Laos: tho:nx.
Malaysia: oriang.
Papua New Guinea: brown albizia.
Philippines: akleng parang.
Thailand: thingthon (central), suan (northern, north-eastern).
Vietnam: mu[oof]ng xanh.