3447.000 Leucaena Benth.

Unarmed trees or shrubs. Leaves 2-pinnate; with (in ours) usually a gland at the junction of the lowest pair of pinnae, but without glands on the petiole or elsewhere on the rhachis. Inflorescence a spherical head, pedunculate, axillary, 1-3 together, often aggregated in a raceme. Calyx gamosepalous, with 5 teeth. Petals 5, free. Stamens 10. Anthers conspicuously pilose. Pod flattened, thinly subcoriaceous, splitting into 2 non-recurving valves. Seeds flattened, brown, glossy.

Derivation of name: from Greek: leukainein, to whiten, referring to the colour of the flowers.

Worldwide: 22 species from Texas to Peru

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.