Albizia

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Albizia

Persian Silk Tree (Albizia julibrissin),
foliage and blossoms

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Subclass:	Rosidae
(unranked)	Eurosids I
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Mimosoideae
Tribe:	Ingeae
Genus:	Albizia Durazz., 1772

Diversity

About 150 species, see List of Albizia species

Synonyms

Albizzia Benth.

Albizia is a genus of about 150 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Central, South, and southern North America and Australia, but mostly in the Old World tropics.

They are commonly called silk trees or sirises. Peculiarly, the obsolete form of spelling the scientific name - with double 'z' - has stuck, so that another commonly used term is albizzias (though the form albizias is also found, particularly in species that are not widely known under a common name). The scientific name refers to the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who in the mid-18th century introduced siris to Europe.

These are usually small trees or shrubs with a short lifespan - though the famous Samán del Guère near Maracay in Venezuela is a huge Albizia saman specimen and several hundred years old. The leaves are pinnately or bipinnately compound. Their small flowers are in bundles, with showy stamens much longer than the petals. Some species are considered weeds.

Persian Silk Tree or Pink Siris (Albizia julibrissin) extends well north into temperate regions in East Asia and is by far the cold-hardiest species. It tolerates temperatures down to about -22°F (-30°C), provided it gets adequate summer heat to ripen the shoots. In North America, where it is commonly grown as an ornamental tree, it is often confusingly called "mimosa", a name which correctly belongs to species in the related genus Mimosa. In several US States, A. julibrissin has become naturalized and is regarded as an invasive species.

Albizia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moths of the genus Endoclita inclulding E. damor, E. malabaricus and E. sericeus.

Albizia lebbeck (habit)

Albizia lebbeck (leaves and fruit)

[edit] Taxonomy

Fruits of Paraserianthes lophantha (formerly Albizia lophanta)

Numerous species placed in Albizia by early authors were eventually moved to other genera, most notably Archidendron. Other genera of Ingeae (Abarema, Archidendropsis, Balizia, Blanchetiodendron, Calliandra, Cathormion, Enterolobium, Havardia, Hesperalbizia, Hydrochorea, Pararchidendron, Paraserianthes, Pseudosamanea and Serianthes) have also received their share of supposed Albizia species, as have the Mimoseae Newtonia and Schleinitzia, and Acacia^{[verification needed]} from the Acacieae. Some presumed "silk trees" are in fact misidentified members of the not very closely related Erythrophleum from the Caesalpinioideae and the Faboideae Lebeckia.^[1]

The delimitation of Falcataria and Pithecellobium, close relatives of Albizia, is notoriously complex, with species having been moved between the genera time and again, and probably will continue to do so. These include for example Falcataria moluccana (Moluccan Albizia, formerly Albizia moluccana), a common shade tree on tea plantations. Other closely-related genera like Chloroleucon and Samanea are often merged with Albizia entirely.^[1]