Albizia Falcata (a legume)

 

There are name variants for Albizia such as Falcataria Moluccan, Moluccan Albizia, Falcata etc. Albizia falcataria

Albizia is a legume, one of the fastest growing trees reaching 15 meters in 3 years. It resides naturally in in Pacific Ocean islands like Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands... Although it has invaded other areas like India. All in all, it thrives in locations that enjoys water a lot.

Albizia’s wood is perfect for furniture and other woodworks. It’s a good finesse for wood materials. With its large spread branches, it forms an umbrella shaped canopy. It’s flowers have minimal aroma with creamy color.

As useful as it is for woodworks, Albizia’s wood has low density but this character also make it useful as charcoal and pulp to make paper.

It’s a source of income in many villages.

Due to its brittle wood structure, winds can uproot and break branches of Albizia.

Albizia is affected by various insects while diseases feast on it after A wind damage.

Because of their large roots, it’s advised that Albizia not be cultivated on steep slopes, because they contribute to soil erosion. As a legume, they like slightly alkaline soils.