Albizia chinensis Seeds | Chinese Albizia
LATIN NAME: Albizia chinensis
COMMON NAME: Chinese Albizia
Plant Profile
Albizia chinensis is a fast, soft-wooded tree of the warm forests of southern China, and it is grown as much for its shade as for its timber. The leaves are twice-divided and fern-like, closing at night, and the flowers are in fluffy heads of white and green, with long stamens that give the tree its feathery look. The pods are thin, flat and brown, and they ripen in autumn.
The species grows from Yunnan and Guangxi through South-East Asia to India, in moist forest and along streams, and it is planted in villages for shade and for fodder. It reaches twenty-five metres with a broad, flat-topped crown, and it is short-lived, seldom past forty years. The wood is light and soft, used for boxes, for matches and for cheap furniture.
Science & Biotechnology
The tree fixes nitrogen through rhizobia, and it grows fast on poor soil, which is why it is used in agroforestry and in reclamation. The leaves close at night and in response to touch, a movement driven by a pulvinus at the base of each leaflet, and the same mechanism folds the leaflets in heavy rain.
The genus is in the Mimosoideae, and the flowers are pollinated by bees and by moths attracted to the stamens. The seed is dispersed by wind and by water, and it germinates readily on bare soil. The tree is also a host of lac insects, which is one reason it is planted in India and in Thailand.
Uses & Benefits
The wood is used for boxes, for matches, for veneer and for light construction, and the tree is planted for shade in tea gardens and in villages. The leaves are cut for fodder, and the tree is used as a host for lac, the resin secreted by an insect and used for shellac.
In Chinese medicine the bark is used as a tonic and the leaf as a wash for skin complaints, and the flowers are used for a tea. The tree is also planted in reforestation and in soil conservation, since its roots hold a bank and its litter improves the soil.
Growing from Seed
Seed needs hot water treatment to break the coat. Soak it overnight in water that has been boiled and left to cool, then sow at 25 to 30 degrees; germination is in one to three weeks. The seedling is very fast and can be planted out within six months.
The tree wants full sun and a deep, moist soil, and it tolerates short flooding and poor drainage better than most legumes. It is tender below about minus three, so it is a tree for a warm climate. It is short-lived and brittle, so do not plant it beside a building, and coppice or replace it before it declines.
Our Take
A fast shade tree for warm, wet ground, useful for fodder and for lac, and too brittle to plant near a house.
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