28 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Albizzia procera, Bentham. 



South-Eastern Asia and North- Western Australia, but enduring- 

 mild extra-tropic climes. Height to 100 feet. Growth more rapid 

 than that of the Siris. Among the limited numbers of trees, fit to 

 live on saltish land. 



Albizzia Saman, F. v. Mueller.* (Pithecolobium Saman, Bentham.) 



The " Rain- tree " or " Guango," extending from Mexico to Brazil 

 and Peru. It attains a height of 70 feet, with a trunk 6 feet in 

 diameter, the colossal branches expanding to 150 feet ; it is of 

 quick growth, and in outline not unlike an oak ; it is content with 

 light soil, and forms a magnificent feature in a landscape. Truly 

 splendid for shade ; almost unapproached for rapid growth by any 

 other tree. In Fiji it attained a stem-circumference of 9 feet in 

 7 years, and a height of about 50 feet, with some branches spread- 

 ing over 40 feet from the short trunk. It can be trimmed to form 

 a tall stem [R. L. Holmes]. At Port Curtis it grew 6 feet in 15 

 months, and it fruits there already at a comparatively early age 

 [Edgar]. Near the Apsley-River in New South Wales, it rose to 

 16 feet in two years sown on very poor ground (A. R. Crawford). In 

 India it attained in 10 years a stem-girth of about 6 feet at 5 feet 

 from the ground, its ramifications by that time spreading out to 90 

 feet [Blechyndon], It thrives particularly in the dry salt-pond- 

 districts of the West-Indies, and likes the vicinity of the sea, " its 

 foliage possessing the power, to an unusual extent, to attract, absorb 

 and condense aerial humidity" [Consul for France at Laroto]. 

 Not ascending to above 1,000 feet altitude in Jamaica ; resisting 

 drought, but very susceptible to frost. The pods mature for fodder 

 .at a time, when grass and herbage^ on pastures become parched. 

 Rain and dew fall through the foliage, which is shut up at night, 

 thus allowing gTass to grow underneath. The tree thrives best, 

 where the rainfall fluctuates between 30 and 60 inches a year. 

 One of the best trees in mild climates for shade by the roadsides. 

 The wood is hard and ornamental ; but the principal utility of the 

 tree lies in its pulpy pods, which are produced in great abundance, 

 and constitute a very fattening fodder for all kinds of pastoral 

 animals, which eat them with relish [Jenman, J. H. Stephens]. 



Albizzia stipulata, Bentham. 



Continental and insular South- Asia, extending to the Himalayas 

 and China, ascending to 4,000 feet. An umbrageous tree of easy 

 culture, for which it is not quite restricted to the tropics. 



Albizzia Timbouva, F. v. Mueller. (Enterolobium Timbouva, Martius.) 

 La Plata States. A good-sized tree with elastic wood, well 

 adapted for promenades. Bark comparatively rich in mimosa- 

 tannic acid [Prof. Hieronymus]. 



