LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 

 MIMOSA SUBFAMILY (MIMOSOIDEAE; MIMOSACEAE) 



65. Zarcilla, tantan, leadtree 



A small tree or shrub common along roadsides 

 and in old fields in the dry areas, characterized by : 

 (1) alternate twice pinnate leaves (bipinnate) 4-8 

 inches long, with 3-10 pairs of lateral axes (pin- 

 nae), each with 10-20 pairs of stalkless narrowly 

 oblong or lance-shaped gray-green leaflets ^6-% 

 inch long and less than Vg inch wide; (2) flowers 

 very numerous in whitish i-ound balls %-l inch 

 across the spreading threadlike stamens; and (3) 

 usually many clustered dark brown pods 4-6 inches 

 long and %-% inch wide, flat and thin, with raised 

 border. 



A rapidly growing deciduous spreading tree 

 15-25 feet high and 2-4 inches in diameter or 

 larger. The bark is gray or bi-o\\nish gray and 

 smooth with many dots or warts (lenticels). In- 

 ner bark is light green or light brown and slightly 

 bitter. Twigs are gray green and finely hairy, be- 

 coming brownish gray. 



The gray-green leaf a.xBS and lateral axes have 

 swellings at bases. Leaflets are short-pointed at 

 apex and oblique at the short-pointed base, thin, 

 and gray green but slightly paler beneath. They 

 fold upward together at night. 



The flower heads are borne on stalks %-li4 

 inches long in terminal clusters (racemelike) at 

 ends of twigs or lateral and composed of many 

 narrow stalkless flowers in a whitish round ball 

 about %-i/4 inch across corollas in bud stage. Each 

 individual flower Yie inch or more in length has 

 a tubular, gi"eenish-white hairy, 5-toothed calyx 

 more than ' ig inch long; 5 narrow greenish-white 

 hairy petals nearly %6 inch long; 10 threadlike 

 white stamens about Yie "ich long; and slender- 

 stalked pistil nearly 14 i"ch long with narrow 

 green haiiy ovary and white style. 



The pods are narrowed into a stalk at base, short- 

 pointecl at apex, and minutely haii-y. They hang 

 down usually many in a cluster and split open on 

 both sides at maturity. In a central row are many 

 flattened, oblong, pointed, shiny brown seeds %b 

 inch long (10,000 to a pound). Flowering and 

 fruiting nearly through the year. 



The sapwood is light yellow. Heartwood is 

 yellow brown to dark brown. The hard, heavy 

 wood (specific gravity 0.7) is used for fuel in 

 Puerto Rico. 



The seeds, after softening in boiling water, are 

 jtrung as beads into necklaces, bracelets, decora- 

 tions on hats, and curiosities for tourists in the Vir- 

 gin Islands and other localities. In the Philip- 

 pines the young pods have been cooked as a vege- 

 table and the seeds prepared as a coffee substitute. 

 The bark and roots reportedly have been employed 

 in home remedies. Bees obtain pollen from the 

 flowers. In the Virgin Islands branches from 

 trees along roadsides freciuently are cut for live- 



Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth. 



stock feed, especially in the dry season. 



The leaves and pods are poisonous to horses, 

 donkeys, and mules and, when eaten, cause these 

 animals to shed their hair, especially that of the 

 mane and tail (or even hooves if browsing is pro- 

 longed, it is reported). Hogs are similai'ly af- 

 fected, losing the hair along the spine, and rabbits 

 are poisoned also. However, cattle, goats, and 

 sheep can bro^^■se the foliage without ill effects. 

 The poison is concentrated in the seeds and young 

 leaves. 



The trees are easily propagated from seeds or 

 cuttings and coppice well. Like weeds they read- 

 ily invade cleared lands and frequently form dense 

 pure thickets. This species has been used in some 

 countries for coffee shade, cacao shade, and hedges. 

 Being hardy it can be planted in pastures, to be 

 followed a:fterwards by timber trees. In some 

 areas the trees have been managed for fuel or 

 charcoal on a short rotation of 6 or 7 years between 

 cuttings. In the Far East this legimie is grown to 

 rebuild the soil and as a forage crop. 



In roadsides, abandoned pastures, and thickets, 

 in the dry limestone and dry coastal regions of 

 Puerto Rico. Also widespread in ]\Iona, Vieques, 

 St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, and Vir- 

 gin Gorda. 



Public forests. — Aguirre, Cambalache, Guaja- 

 taca, Guanica, ^Maricao, Rio Abajo, Susua, Vega. 



Municipalities aviiere especially common. — 

 26, 38, 54, 55, 75. 



Range. — Throughout "West Indies from Ba- 

 hamas and Cuba to Trinidad and Tobago and 

 from southern Mexico to northern South America. 

 Naturalized beyond the original range north to 

 southern Texas and southern Florida (also planted 

 in California) and in Bermuda and southward to 

 Chile and Brazil. Also naturalized in the Old 

 World tropics. 



Other common names. — tamarindillo, hedion- 

 dilla, acacia, acacia palida (Puerto Rico) ; wild 

 tamarind, wild taman (Virgin Islands) ; lino, 

 granadino, granadillo bobo, lino criollo (Domini- 

 can Republic) ; aroma blanca, aroma mansa, aroma 

 l)()bn (Cuba); guaje, uaxim (Mexico); barba de 

 leon (Guatemala); panelo (Colombia); leadtree, 

 white popinac (United States) ; jumbie-bean, wild 

 mimosa, acacia (Bermuda) ; jumbie-bean, jimbay, 

 cowbiish (Bahamas) ; wild tamarind (Grenadines, 

 Trinidad, British Honduras) ; shack-shack. West 

 Indies mimosa (Trinidad); grains de lin pays 

 (Haiti) ; bois-lolo, monval (St. Barthelemy, Gua- 

 deloupe) ; macata (Guadeloupe); macata blanca 

 (Martinique) ; tumbarabu, mimosa, tantan (Dutch 

 West Indies). 



Botanical synonym. — Leucaena le^icocephaln 

 (Lam.) deWit. 



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