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Albizia

 
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Albizia
 
 
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Albizia is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 150 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s in the Subfamily Mimosoideae
Mimosoideae

Mimosoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae characterized by flowers with small petals and numerous prominent stamens. This subfamily is subdivided into five tribes: Acacieae, Ingeae, Mimoseae, Mimozygantheae, and Parkieae....
 of the legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
 family, Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
, Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, South
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, and southern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, but mostly in the Old World tropics. Some species are considered weedy
WEED

WEED is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, it serves the area. The station is currently owned by Northstar Broadcasting Corporation....
.

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).






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Albizia is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of about 150 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s in the Subfamily Mimosoideae
Mimosoideae

Mimosoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae characterized by flowers with small petals and numerous prominent stamens. This subfamily is subdivided into five tribes: Acacieae, Ingeae, Mimoseae, Mimozygantheae, and Parkieae....
 of the legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
 family, Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
, Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
, South
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, and southern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, but mostly in the Old World tropics. Some species are considered weedy
WEED

WEED is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, it serves the area. The station is currently owned by Northstar Broadcasting Corporation....
.

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
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who in the mid-18th century introduced siris to Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

These are usually small trees or shrubs with a short lifespan - though the famous Samán del Gučre near Maracay
Maracay

Maracay is a city in central Venezuela and is the capital and most important city of the Aragua State. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of the Girardot Municipality....
 in Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
 is a huge Albizia saman specimen and several hundred years old. The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are pinnately or bipinnately compound. Their small flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are in bundles, with showy stamens much longer than the petals. Confusingly, some species are given the name "mimosa" which correctly belongs to species in the related genus Mimosa
Mimosa

Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. There are two species in the genus that are notable....
. Unlike those of Mimosa, Albizia flowers have much more than 10 stamens. Albizia can also be told apart from another large related genus, Acacia
Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
, since its flowers have their stamens joined at the base whereas in Acacia stamens are free (separated)..

Persian Silk Tree or Pink Siris (Albizia julibrissin) extends well north into temperate regions in East Asia
East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central 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
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 it is commonly grown as an ornamental tree, but has become naturalized
Naturalisation (biology)

In biology, naturalisation is the process when foreign or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, where they multiply by natural regeneration....
 in several US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 States, and is regarded as an invasive species
Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
.

Albizia species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
s of the genus Endoclita
Endoclita

Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent....
 inclulding E. damor, E. malabaricus and E. sericeus.

Taxonomy

Albizia Lophanta0
Numerous species placed in Albizia by early authors were eventually moved to other genera, most notably Archidendron
Archidendron

Archidendron is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family.Species include:* Archidendron bigeminum* Archidendron forbesii* Archidendron grandiflorum, pink laceflower...
. Other genera of Ingeae (Abarema
Abarema

Abarema is a neotropical genus of large trees from the legume family . They grow from Mexico to Bolivia. Most of the species can be found in the Amazon Basin and the Guyana Highlands....
, Archidendropsis
Archidendropsis

Archidendropsis is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family....
, Balizia, Blanchetiodendron, Calliandra
Calliandra

Calliandra is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas....
, Cathormion, Enterolobium
Enterolobium

Enterolobium is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical and warm-temperate regions of the Americas....
, Havardia, Hesperalbizia, Hydrochorea
Hydrochorea

Hydrochorea is a legume genus in the subfamily Mimosoideae. It contains a mere 3 species at present:* Hydrochorea corymbosa Barneby & J.W.Grimes...
, Pararchidendron, Paraserianthes, Pseudosamanea and Serianthes
Serianthes

Serianthes is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family.It contains the following species:* Serianthes calycina* Serianthes margaretae...
) have also received their share of supposed Albizia species, as have the Mimoseae
Mimoseae

Mimoseae is a tribe of Fabaceae plants in the subfamily Mimosoideae. Where this is treated as a family of its own , the Mimoseae become the subfamily Mimosoideae....
 Newtonia
Newtonia (plant)

Newtonia is a genus of legumes.Species are:* Newtonia aubrevillei Keay* Newtonia buchananii G.C.C.Gilbert & Boutique...
 and Schleinitzia, and Acacia
Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Sweden botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773....
 from the Acacieae. Some presumed "silk trees" are in fact misidentified members of the not very closely related Erythrophleum
Erythrophleum

Erythrophleum is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family.A partial list of species includes:* Erythrophleum chlorostachys* Erythrophleum fordii...
 from the Caesalpinioideae
Caesalpinioideae

Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name Caesalpinia....
 and the Faboideae
Faboideae

Faboideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae....
 Lebeckia
Lebeckia

Lebeckia is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family.It contains the following species:* Lebeckia brevicarpa* Lebeckia brevipes* ''Lebeckia candolleana...
.

The delimitation of Falcataria and Pithecellobium
Pithecellobium

Pithecellobium is a legume genus in the family Fabaceae.Delimitation to the closely-related Albizia is a matter of dispute, and species were being moved from one genus to the other times and again....
, 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
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
 plantations. Other closely-related genera like Chloroleucon
Chloroleucon

Chloroleucon is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family. This genus can be included in Albizia Durazz. It contains the following species:...
 and Samanea are often merged with Albizia entirely.

Gallery of Albizia procera


See also

  • List of Albizia species
    List of Albizia species

    This is a list of species in the legume tree genus Albizia, the silk trees, sirises or albizias.Numerous species placed in Albizia by early authors were eventually moved to other genera, particularly Archidendron and many other Ingeae, as well as certain Acacieae, Mimoseae, and even Caesalpinioideae and Faboide...


Footnotes


External links