World Agroforestry Centre | agroforestree database 4.0

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This database provides detailed information on a total of 670 agroforestry tree species. It is intended to help field workers and researchers in selecting appropriate species for agroforestry systems and technologies.

For each species, the database includes information on identity, ecology and distribution, propagation and management, functional uses, pests and diseases and a bibliography.

This project has been funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID, the European Union and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

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Acacia auriculiformis	Acacia auriculiformis is an evergreen tree that grows between to 15-30 m tall, with a trunk up to 12 m long and 50 cm in diameter. It has dense foliage with an open, spreading crown. The trunk is crooked and the bark vertically fissured. Roots are shallow and spreading. Leaves 10-16 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm wide with 3-8 parallel nerves, thick, leathery and curved. Flowers are 8 cm long and in pairs, creamy yellow and sweet scented. Pods are about 6.5 x 1.5 cm, flat, cartilaginous, glaucous, transversely veined with undulate margins. They are initially straight but on maturity become twisted with irregular spirals. Seeds are transversely held in the pod, broadly ovate to elliptical, about 4-6 x 3-4 mm. The generic name acacia comes from the Greek word ‘akis’ meaning a point or a barb and the specific epithet comes from the Latin ‘auricula’- external ear of animals and ‘forma- form, figure or shape, in allusion to the shape of the pod.
Acacia glauca	Acacia glauca is an erect, unarmed shrub or small tree, 1-3(-5) m tall; crown open, branches many, terete, sparsely pubescent to glabrous, younger twigs more strigose; bark dark red. Leaves bipinnately or sometimes tripinnately compound, pinnae in 2-10 pairs, 4-9 cm long, rachis 8-12 cm long, glandless; leaflets 10-30 pairs per pinna, opposite, oblong-lanceolate, 4-10 mm x 1-2 mm, unequal sided, base rounded, top blunt with acute tip, hairy to glabrescent; stipules lanceolate, early caducous. Inflorescence a short, sometimes subcapitate, 20-40-flowered spike, 2-6 together in upper axils, the uppermost arranged in racemes; peduncle up to 2.5 cm long, pedicel 1-2 mm, articulated; flowers 5-merous, bisexual, white turning yellowish; calyx campanulate, 0.5-1 mm long, 5-lobed; corolla tubular, 5-lobed, 2-4 mm long; stamens numerous, ovary stipitate with 5 mm long style. Fruit a flat, membranous pod, oblong to strap-shaped, 1.5-10 cm x 0.5-2 cm, stalk about 1 cm long, apiculate, glossy brown, 1-8 seeded, valves swollen where seeds develop, transversely veined along the margins. Seeds ovoid to lenticular, brown. The generic name ‘acacia’ comes from the Greek word ‘akis’, meaning point or barb.
Ailanthus altissima	Ailanthus altissima is a deciduous tree, usually dioecious, 6-10(-30) m tall, trunk crooked, 30(-100) cm, crown open. Bark light brown or grey, smooth, thin, becoming rough with long fissures and dark ridges. Leaves alternate, pinnately compound 30-60 cm long, hairy when young, crushed foliage with disagreeable odour but suggestive of peanuts. Leaflets 13-41, short-stalked, broadly lanceolate, 7.5-13 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, acuminate, with 2-5 teeth near inside base. Panicles large, 15-25 cm long; flowers many, 6 mm long, greenish or greenish-yellow, with 5-lobed calyx, 5 narrow petals. Male flowers with 10 stamens and disagreeable odor. Female flowers with 2-5 nearly separate pistils united at base. Fruit a samara, 1-5 per flower, 3-5 cm long, 1 cm wide, with reddish or purplish-brown, flat, slightly twisted wing. Seed, 1, in the middle of the fruit, 6 mm long, elliptical, flattened. The generic name ‘Ailanthus’ comes from ‘ailanthos’ (tree of heaven), the Indonesian name for Ailanthus moluccana.
Albizia lebbeck	Albizia lebbeck can attain a height of 30 m and a diameter of 1 m; more often it is 15-20 m tall with a diameter of 50 cm; bark grey-violet with rusty brown breathing pores, rough and fissured. Compound leaves bipinnate, glabrous or slightly hairy on the axis; pinnae in 2-4 pairs, each with 2-11 pairs of obliquely oblong leaflets 15-45 x 8-22 mm, shortly stalked; glabrous glands are raised, elliptic to circular, on the upper side of the stalk close to the base and between most pairs of leaflets. Flowers appear shortly after new leaves, are white, heavily scented, with the stamens free above the corolla, in heads 18-36 mm across excluding the stamens, on a stout stalk 5-7.5 cm long, appearing singly or in small clusters in the leaf axils and in terminal panicles; stamens 30-40, yellowish-green on top side, white underside, up to 5 cm long; flower-stalks up to 5 mm long; corolla tube, 1 cm long. Pods pale straw to light brown at maturity, narrow-oblong, 15-26 x 3-5 cm, papery, leathery, flat and not raised or constricted between seeds; seeds brown, flat, orbicular or elliptic, 8-10 x 6-7 mm; transversely placed with 6-12 in each pod. The genus is named after Filippo del Albizzi, a Florentine nobleman who in 1749 introduced A. julibrissin into cultivation. The species name is from the Arabic name for this plant, ‘laebach’. When agitated by the wind, the pods and enclosed seeds are said to produce an incessant rattle likened to women’s chatter, hence the name ‘woman’s tongue’.
Albizia procera	Albizia procera is a tree with an open canopy, up to 30 m tall and trunk of 35 (60 max.) cm in diameter; bole straight or crooked, up to 9 m. Bark smooth, pale grey-green, yellowish-green, yellowish-brown or brown with horizontal ridges; underbark green, changing to orange just below the surface; inner bark pink or straw coloured; branches terete, glabrous. Leaves bipinnate with 2-5 pairs of subopposite pinnae; rachis 10-30 cm, glabrous with a gland 1-2.5 cm above the base; gland narrowly elliptical, 4-10 mm long, sessile, flat and disclike or concave with raised margins; pinnae 12-20 cm long, glabrous; leaflets 5-11 pairs per pinna, opposite, rigidly chartaceous to sub-coriaceous, asymmetrically ovate to sub-rhomboid, 2-4.5 (6 max.) x 1-2.2 (3.2 max.) cm; base asymmetrical; apex rounded or subtruncate, often emarginate, mucronate; both surfaces sparsely appressed puberulous, rarely glabrous on top side. Inflorescence composed of pedunculate glomerules collected in an axillary, sparsely puberulous panicle up to 30 cm long; peduncle (0.8 min.) 1.5-2.3 cm long, 2-5 together; flowers 15-30 per glomerule, sessile, uniform (central flowers usually larger than marginal ones), bisexual. Fruits rich red or reddish-brown, flattened pods 10-20 x 1.8-2.5 cm, chartaceous, glabrous, with distinct marks over the seeds; mature pods each containing 6-12 seeds, usually remaining on the tree until the whole twig bearing the pods is shed; seeds small, greenish-brown, elliptical to round, flat, with a hard, smooth seed coat, 7.5-8 x 4.5-6.5 x 1.5 mm. The genus is named after the 18th-century Florentine nobleman and naturalist Filippo del Albizzi. The species name is derived from the Latin word ‘procerus’, meaning very tall or high, possibly alluding to the height the species can attain.
Alnus acuminata	Alnus acuminata grows to 30 m and 50 cm diameter at breast height at 30 years of age. The bark is light grey or silvery with yellowish lenticels. Crown shape is rounded to pyramidal. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptical, 6-15 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, border double dentate, deciduous or semi-deciduous. The upper leaf surface is dark green and the lower surface pale, whitish to light green. Inflorescence conelike with lignified scales, dark brown when ripened, and bearing more than 100 fruits per cone. Male and female flowers occur on different catkins on the same branch. Fruit a small, membranous samara, 2 to 3 mm long, 1-seeded. ‘Alnus’ is the classical Latin name of alder. The specific name ‘acuminata’ means ‘sharp pointed’; from the Latin ‘acuminare’ (to make sharp).
Annona squamosa	Annona squamosa is a small, semi-deciduous tree, 3-7 m in height, with a broad, open crown or irregularly spreading branches; bark light brown with visible leaf scars and smoothish to slightly fissured into plates; inner bark light yellow and slightly bitter; twigs become brown with light brown dots (lenticels). Leaves occur singly, 6-17 x 3-6 cm, lanceolate or oblong lanceolate, pale green on both surfaces and glabrate or nearly so; sides sometimes slightly unequal; edges without teeth, inconspicuously hairy, at least when young, minutely dotted on examination with a lens; thin, dull green to dark green on top surface, and pale blue-green and covered with bloom on underside; apex short or long pointed; base short pointed or rounded; petioles 0.6-1.3 cm long, green, sparsely pubescent. Flowers greenish-yellow, fragrant, on slender hairy stalks, produced singly or in short lateral clusters about 2.5 cm long, 2-4 flowers but not at the base of the leaves; sepals pointed, hairy, green, about 16 mm long; 3 outer petals oblong, thick and rounded at the tips, fleshy, 1.6-2.5 cm long, 0.6 cm wide, yellow-green, slightly hairy, inside light yellow and keeled with a purplish or reddish spot at the thin, enlarged base; inner petals 3 minute, ovate, pointed scales; stamens very numerous, crowded, white, less than 16 mm long; ovary light green, styles white, crowded on the raised axis. The aggregate fruit formed from the numerous pistils of a flower, which are loosely united, is soft and distinct from other species of the genus. Each pistil forms a separate tubercle, mostly 1.3-1.9 cm long and 0.6-1.3 cm wide. Fruit is round, heart shaped, ovate or conical, 5-10 cm in diameter, with many round protuberances; greenish-yellow when ripe, with a white, powdery bloom; the pulp is white, edible and sweetly aromatic; in each carpel is embedded a seed, oblong, shiny and smooth, blackish or dark brown, 1.3-1.6 cm long, numerous. The genus name, ‘Annona’ is from the Latin word ‘anon’, meaning ‘yearly produce’, referring to the production of fruits of the various species in this genus. A. squamosa has been named botanically from Jamaica.
Araucaria cunninghamii	Araucaria cunninghamii is a large, unbuttressed, symmetrical tree, 50-70 m high; bole straight, cylindrical, self-pruning, clean to 30 m or more; mature trees 1.2-1.7 m in diameter; trunk internodes variable, 1-4 m; crown pyramidal to flat; branches in whorls of up to 6, more or less horizontal, with 2nd- to 5th-order branchlets; outer bark dark plum, red-brown or grey, rough, peeling off around circumference in stringy papery layers; middle bark reddish-brown; inner bark mottled white. Juvenile leaves 23-27 x 20-25 mm, longer and flatter than adult, persist until trees are 10 years old; adult foliage crowded in overlapping whorls on ends of branches, persistent, without petioles, narrow to broadly triangular, slightly curved, 8-10 mm long, glabrous, dull green. Monoecious; male strobili usually borne on lower and mid-crown branches, terminal, green, yellow at anthesis, red-brown later, elongated, about 90 x 10 mm. Cone green, ovoid, 70-100 x 60-80 mm, covered with short spines, 9-10 mm long, deflexed; seed in the form of ovulate cone scales, more or less flat, woody, triangular, with 2 thin wings, indehiscent scale terminating in a sharp spine; reddish-brown. The name ‘araucaria’ is derived from Arauco, a province of southern Chile.
Areca catechu	Arecanut is an erect, unbranched palm reaching heights of 12-30 m, depending upon the environmental conditions. The stem, marked with scars of fallen leaves in a regular annulated form, becomes visible only when the palm is about 3 years old. Girth depends on genetic variation and soil conditions. Root system adventitious, typical of monocots. The adult palm has 7-12 open leaves, each with a sheath, a rachis and leaflets. The leaf stalk extends as the midrib until the end of the leaf and ends as leaflets. Male flowers very numerous, sessile, without bracts; calyx 1-leaved, small, 3-cornered, 3-parted; petals 3, oblong, rigid striated; stamens 6, anthers sagittate. Female flowers solitary or 2 or 3 at or near the base of each ramification of the spadix, sessile, without bracts; sepals permanent; staminodes 6, connate, styles scarcely any; stigmas 3, short, triangular. Fruit a monolocular, one-seeded berry, 3.8-5 cm long, smooth orange or scarlet when ripe, with a fibrous outer layer. The generic name is derived from the common name used by the people of the Malabar Coast in southwestern India.
Borassus aethiopum	Borassus aethiopum is an unbranched palm growing up to 20 m tall, characterized by a crown up to 8 m wide; young palms are covered with dry leaf stalks, showing gradually fading leaf scars; trees over 25 years old have a swelling of the trunk at 12-15 m above the ground (at 2/3 of the height); bark is pale grey in older palms and is more or less smooth. Leaves very large, fan shaped, bluish-green, 15-30, up to 3.5 m long, including petiole which is marked with sharp, black thorns; leaflets symmetric at the base. Flowers dioecious, yellowish; male flowers clustered in a branched spadix, 0.8-1.8 m long. Female flowers with unbranched and shorter spadix, 1.3-2.6 m long. The fruit a large drupe, diameter about 15 cm, ovoid, orange to brown when ripe; fibrous pulp contains 3 woody kernels with an albumen that becomes hard when ripe. This genus is probably the only tropical species that bears a generic name so old that its meaning has been lost in time. The name ‘flabellifer’ means ‘fan shaped’ and refers to the shape of the leaves.
Calotropis procera	Calotropis procera is a shrub or small tree up to 2.5 m (max. 6) high, stem usually simple, rarely branched, woody at base and covered with a fissured, corky bark; branches somewhat succulent and densely white tomentose; early glabrescent. All parts of the plant exude a white latex when cut or broken. Leaves opposite, simple, subsessile, stipule absent; blade oblong-obovate to broadly obovate, 5-30 x 2.5-15.5 cm, apex abruptly and shortly acuminate to apiculate, base cordate, margins entire, succulent, white tomentose when young, later glabrescent and glaucous. Inflorescence a dense, multiflowered, umbellate cyme arising from the nodes and appearing axillary or terminal; flowers hermaphroditic, pentamerous; pedicle 1-3 cm long; calyx 5-lobed, shortly united at the base, lobes ovate, 4-7 x 3-4 mm, glabrescent. Fruit, a simple, fleshy, inflated, subglobose to obliquely ovoid follicle up to 10 cm or more in diameter; seeds numerous, flat obovate, 6 x 5 mm, with silky white pappus 3 cm or more long. The specific name, procera is Latin for tall or high.
Dichrostachys cinerea	Dichrostachys cinerea is a semi-deciduous to deciduous tree up to 7 m tall with an open crown. Bark on young branches green and hairy but dark grey-brown and longitudinally fissured on older branches and stems; smooth on spines formed from modified side shoots. Slash cream coloured to light yellow. Strong alternate thorns, up to 8 cm long, almost at right angles, slightly recurved, grow out of the branches and may bear leaves at the base. Twigs grey brown violet, with prominent light lenticels. Leaves bipinnate; rachis 4-8 cm, with 5-15 (max. 19) pairs of pinnae, which each bear (min. 9) 12-22 (max. 41) pairs of leaflets; terminal pair of pinnae shorter, dark green, underside pale. Leaflets about 8 x 2.5 mm wide; leaflets and petioles very tomentose and ciliate. Flowers very characteristic in bicoloured cylindrical, dense, petioled, pendulous spikes (bottlebrush), 6-8 cm long and fragrant. Terminal lower flowers hermaphroditic, with 1 pistil and 10 yellow stamens each. Upper flowers of a hanging spike are sterile, reddish or pale purple, with protruding staminodes. Pods narrow, yellow or brown; generally twisted or spiralled, up to 100 x 15 mm, in dense, stalked, intertwined clusters; indehiscent. About 4 black seeds with a spot at one end per pod. It seems possible that 2 subspecies can be recognized: D. cinerea. ssp. africana and D. cinerea ssp. nyassana . The latter tends to grow larger and has larger and less hairy leaves and leaflets. The generic name ‘Dichrostachys’ means ‘2-coloured spike’, and ‘cinerea’ refers to the greyish hairs of the typical subspecies, which is confined to India; from the Greek ‘konis’ and the Latin ‘cineres’. In South Africa it is called the ‘Kalahari Christmas tree’, and because of the attractive 2-coloured hanging flowers some people call it ‘tassels for the chief’s hat’. But most commonly it is known as the ‘sickle bush’, because the young pods are curved like sickles.
Euphorbia tirucalli	Euphorbia tirucalli is an unarmed shrub or small tree 4-12 (-15) m high with brittle succulent branchlets 7 mm thick often produced in whorls, green and longitudinally finely striated, with white to yellowish latex. Leaves few, fleshy, linear-lanceolate, to 15 x 2 mm, present only at the tips of young branchlets and very quickly deciduous; extreme tips of young leafy branchlets sparsely tomentose, with curled brown hairs, soon glabrescent; glandular stipules minute, dark brown. Cymes 2-6 congested at the apices of the branchlets, forking 2-4 times, with rays less than 1 mm long producing a dense cluster of cyathia developing only male flowers, or occasionally a few female flowers also present, or cyathia fewer and only female flowers developing, the whole cyme may be glabrous or tomentose, with curled brown hairs, especially the involucres and lobes; bracts rounded, 2 x 15 mm sharply keeled, usually glabrous except on the margin. False flowers (cyathia) subsessile, 3 x 4 mm, with cup-shaped involucres; glands 5, subglobose to transversely elliptic, 0.5 mm long. Male involucres: bracteoles linear with plumose apices; stamens 4.5 mm long; an aborted female flower is occasionally present. Female involucres: bracteoles present and occasionally a few male flowers; perianth distinctly 3-lobed below the tomentose ovary, with lobes 0.5 mm long; styles 2 mm long, joined at the base, with thickened deeply bifid recurved apices. Fruit a glabrescent capsule, exserted on a tomentose pedicel to 1 cm long, subglobose, 8 x 8.5 mm. Seeds ovoid, 3.5 x 2.8 mm, smooth, buff speckled with brown and with a dark brown ventral line; caruncle 1 mm across. The generic name commemorates Euphorbos the Numidian (N.E. Algeria) physician of King Juba of Mauretania c.54 B.C. The name tirucalli is a native name from Malabar in India.
Gleditsia triacanthos	Gleditsia triacanthos attains a normal height of 15-25 (50) m and 0.5-1 (max. 1.8) m diameter. Trees have a short bole and open, narrow or spreading crown, bark reddish-brown to black, scaly, ridged, often covered in clusters of large, branched thorns. It has a strong taproot and a profusely branched root system. Leaves deciduous, alternate, singly or doubly pinnately compound. Those singly compound form early on dwarf shoots or toward the base of the long shoots; bear 14-30 leaflets (no terminal leaflet) on a central stalk 15-20 cm long; preformed in buds. Those doubly compound bear 4-7 pairs of branches, each resembling a singly compound leaf; neoformed during the growing season. Leaflets 25-40 mm long, widest near the base; tip rounded, often with a small point; sometimes minutely toothed. Flowers greenish-white, regular, small, about 5 mm across. The male and female flowers on the same tree, often on separate branches. Perfect flowers may also be present. Pollen flowers in many-flowered clusters (racemes) 5-7 cm long. Seed flowers in few-flowered clusters 7-9 cm long. Fruit 15-40 cm long pods, flat, curved, twisted, brownish; husk leathery; falling in winter without opening. Seeds beanlike; with a hard, impermeable seed coat; 0.5-1.5 cm long, dark brown, smooth. The generic name, sometimes spelt Gleditschia, commemorates the German botanist Johan Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786), professor and director of the Berlin Botanic Garden. The specific name ‘tricanthos’ means 3-thorned; from the Greek ‘treis’ (three) and ‘akantha’ (a spine).
Jacaranda mimosifolia	Jacaranda mimosifolia is a deciduous tree up to 20 m in height with spreading branches making a light crown. Bark pale brown and furrowed, transverse cracks dividing the ridges between the furrows into long, narrow scales. The bole almost always short and malformed, and up to 40-50 cm in diameter. Leaves compound and feathery on a stalk to 40 cm; up to 30 pairs of pinnae bearing small, pointed leaflets. Flowers striking blue-violet, in clusters, each flower bell shaped, to 4 cm, usually on the bare tree before leaf growth. Fruit a rounded woody capsule to 7 cm across with a wavy edge, brown-black when mature, splitting on the tree to set free many light-winged seeds. Capsules may hang on the tree for up to 2 years. The generic name is a latinized form of an aboriginal name used in Brazil.
Leucaena pallida	Leucaena pallida is a small deciduous multiple-stemmed tree 3-7 m tall although occasionally to 10 m tall and a bole diameter of 10-15 (-30) cm, with an open, spreading or narrow crown. Bark smooth, metallic-grey, blotched lighter grey with horizontally aligned pale brown lenticels, slash greenish. Leaves have 15-27 pairs of pinnae, pinnular rachis 8-11 cm long, sparsely hairy, leaflets 6-8(-10) mm long, 1-2 mm wide, 39-50 pairs per pinna, asymmetric truncate at base, linear or oblong, acuminate at apex. Petiole gland unstalked, shallow crater-shaped, elliptical, 3-4 mm long by 2-3 mm wide. Flower head 14-16 mm in diameter, 95-110 flowers per head, in groups of 3-5 in leaf axils on actively growing shoots, sometimes with suppression of leaves on the flowering shoot, flowers appear pale pink or dull purplish mauve. Pods 12-19 cm long, 14-18 mm wide, 3-5 per flower head, linear, slightly thickened and leathery, glossy maroon when unripe, turning reddish-brown, glabrous or occasionally hairy. Seed 5-7 mm wide, 6-8 mm long, slightly rhombic aligned transversely in pods. The specific epithet means pale in reference to the flowers.
Melaleuca quinquenervia	Melaleuca quinquenervia is a small to medium-sized tree, commonly 8-12 m tall but ranging from 4 to 25 m, depending on local growing conditions. The stem is moderately straight to crooked, crown narrow and open, or fairly dense; thick, pale-coloured bark is made up of many papery layers that split and peel, and on large trunks it becomes rough and shaggy. The leaves are dark green, stiff, narrowed at each end, 4-9 x 2-3.5 cm, with entire margins, and 5 (rarely 3 or 7) more prominent parallel veins from base to tip, on a petiole 6-24 mm. They have a resinous odour and taste when crushed. Flowers are produced in thick, fluffy spikes 4-8.5 x 2.5-3.5 cm, usually white or creamy-white, rarely greenish or reddish. The conspicuous part of each flower consists of 5 bundles of stamens 10-20 mm long. The spike grows out into a leafy twig beyond the fruit. Each inflorescence results in 30-70 densely packed woody stalked capsules. They are short, cylindrical, 3-4 x 4-5 mm, grey-brown, hard and persistent, opening by 3-4 slits at the end. Seed pale brown, very small, about 1 x 0.3 mm tapering from the dorsal end. Melaleuca, from the Greek words for ‘black’ and ‘white’, refers to the dark trunk and white branches of 1 species. The specific name is from the Latin ‘quinque’ and ‘nervis’ meaning ‘5-nerved’, and refers to the common number of longitudinal veins in the leaves.
Melia volkensii	Melia volkensii is deciduous, open crowned and laxly branched. Mature trees range between 6 and 20 m tall. Trees with 25 cm diameter are common. The bark is grey, fairly smooth, furrowing with age. Leaves are a light, bright green, bipinnate with (sub)opposite leaflets, 3-7 per pinna, up to 35 cm long, and are densely hairy when young. The leaflets are oval to lanceolate, tapering to the apex. The margins are entire or serrated, becoming almost glabrous when mature. Dimensions range between 4 and 7.5 cm long. Flowers are small, white and fragrant, in loose sprays. Male and female flowers are on the same tree (andromonoecious). Inflorescence is congested, up to 12 cm long, axillary and on older branchlets. Petals are tetra- to pentamerous, white, free and may curl backwards; stamens are the same number as the petals, sometimes twice as many, and united into a tube. The fruit is drupe-like and oval; colour changes from green to pale grey as the fruit matures. Fruit size is normally 4 cm long with a very thick, bony endocarp. Because of the divided leaves, the generic name is derived from the Greek melia (the ash).
Moringa oleifera	Moringa oleifera is a small, graceful, deciduous tree with sparse foliage, often resembling a leguminous species at a distance, especially when in flower, but immediately recognized when in fruit. The tree grows to 8 m high and 60 cm dbh. Bole crooked, often forked from near the base. Bark smooth, dark grey; slash thin, yellowish. Twigs and shoots shortly but densely hairy. Crown wide, open, typically umbrella shaped and usually a single stem; often deep rooted. The wood is soft. Leaves alternate, the old ones soon falling off; each leaf large (up to about 90 cm long), with opposite pinnae, spaced about 5 cm apart up the central stalk, usually with a 2nd lot of pinnae, also opposite, bearing leaflets in opposite pairs, with a slightly larger terminal leaflet. Leaflets dark green above and pale on the under surface; variable in size and shape, but often rounded-elliptic, seldom as much as 2.5 cm long. Flowers produced throughout the year, in loose axillary panicles up to 15 cm long; individual flower stalks up to 12 mm long and very slender; 5 pale green sepals 12 mm long, finely hairy, 5 white petals, unequal, a little longer than the sepals; 5 stamens with anthers, 5 without; style slender, flowers very sweet smelling. Fruit large and distinctive, up to 90 cm long and 12 mm broad, slightly constricted at intervals, gradually tapering to a point, 3- (4-) angled, with 2 grooves on each face, light brown. It splits along each angle to expose the rows of rounded blackish oily seeds, each with 3 papery wings. The generic name comes from the Sinhalese name ‘morunga’.
Nephelium lappaceum	Nephelium lappaceum is an evergreen tree about 10-12 m tall; principal trunk is erect with an open crown of large branches; bark is slightly rugose, greyish or red. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound without an end-leaflet. On the lower surface of each leaflet are the domatia, small crater-like hills located in the axils between the mid and secondary veins. The function of the domatia is unknown. Inflorescence pseudo-terminal to usually terminal; flowers either male (only stamens well developed; trees dioecious) or hermaphrodite (trees monoecious), the latter either effectively female (stamens small, anther not dehiscing) or male (stigma not opening), actinomorphic, whitish, yellowish or greenish; sepals 4-5(7), nearly free to more than halfway connate, 0.7-2.1 mm long; petals usually absent, sometimes up to 4 reduced ones, not exceeding 1.6 mm; disk complete, hairy or glabrous. Fruit an ellipsoid to subglobular schizocarp, up to 7 x 5 cm, weighing 20-95 g, usually consisting of only 1 nutlet, yellowish to purplish-red, hardly stalked, often finally dehiscing (at least the apical part), glabrous, usually densely set with filiform, curved, 0.5-2 cm long appendages; wall coriaceous, up to 2.5 mm thick. Seed covered by a usually thick, juicy, white to yellow, translucent sarcotesta. The specific name stems from the Latin word ‘lappaceus’ meaning ‘bur-like’ and refers to the fruit appendages. The word rambutan is derived from the Malay word ‘hair,’ which describes the numerous, characterizing, long, soft, red or red and green coloured spine-like protuberances (spinterns) on the surface of the fruit.
Parkinsonia aculeata	Parkinsonia aculeata is a small, spiny tree 4-10 m high, with a short and often crooked trunk up to 40 cm in diameter, often branching near the ground with a very open crown of spreading branches and very thin drooping foliage; green throughout the year, although appears leafless after leaflets fall; bark of trunk, branches and twigs smooth, yellow-green or blue-green and slightly bitter; twigs slender, slightly zigzag, finely hairy when young, often with spines, 3 or 1 remaining at nodes, including 2 short spines. Leaves specialized, alternate, bipinnately compound, consisting of very short axis ending in spine 1-2 cm long, and 1 or 2 pairs of long, yellow-green drooping side axes, strips or streamers 20-30 cm long and 3 mm broad, flat and slightly thickened; each strip with 20-30 pairs of thin, oblong, green, small leaflets 3-5 mm long, which shed early; strips resembling a blade of grass continue functioning as leaves after leaflets fall. Flower clusters 7.5-20 cm long at leaf bases, unbranched; flowers several on long, slender stalks, irregular and slightly pea shaped, fragrant, showy, golden yellow, 2 cm or more across; calyx a short tube with 5 narrow yellow-brown lobes turned back; corolla of 5 nearly round petals 10-13 mm long, yellow tinged with orange and hairy at base; upper petal slightly larger, red spotted and turning with withering; 10 green stamens with brown anthers; reddish tinged pistil with hairy, 1-celled ovary and slender style. Pods nearly cylindrical, 5-10 cm long, 6 mm or more in diameter, narrowed between seeds, long pointed; seeds 1-5, beanlike, oblong, 1 cm long, dark brown; flowers and pods all year. The genus name Parkinsonia honours John Parkinson (1567-1650), a British botanist. The specific name means ‘with spines or prickles’. ‘Jerusalem’ in this and other plant names does not refer to the city in Israel but is a corruption from Italian of ‘girasol’, meaning ‘turning towards the sun’.
Paulownia imperialis	Paulownia imperialis is a deciduous tree attaining a height of 12-16 m, occasionally over 20 m. The crown is open and domed, containing relatively few branches that often begin quite near the ground. Bark is smooth and delicately streaked, reddish-grey in colour on young trees and of a distinct grey hue in older trees. Opposite leaves heart shaped with a basal notch, a light colouring of downy hairs on their top side and densely pubescent underside; entire, measuring up to 35 x 25 cm, with a stalk 10-15 cm long. Flowers pale-violet to blue-purple, slenderly campanulate, up to 6 cm long, arranged on panicles 20-30 cm long. Fruits grow on stalks, ovoid in shape, whitish-green in colour and sticky to the touch. About 3 x 1.8 cm in size; 2-10 grow on each panicle, each opening in 2 valves releasing winged seeds 3-5 mm. P. imperialis was named in honour of Anna Pavlovna (1795-1865), daughter of Czar Paul I of Russia and wife of Prince (later King) Willem of the Netherlands.
Pentaclethra macrophylla	Pentaclethra macrophylla trees grow to about 21 m in height and about 60 cm girth. Have a characteristic low branching habit and an open crown, which allows substantial light under its canopy. The bole produces a reddish-orange coloration after a slash is made. Stem form is usually crooked and buttressed. Some are straight-stemmed and less buttressed trees, which can pass for good timber, are occasionally seen in the forests. Bark is greyish to dark reddish brown, thin and patchy with irregular pieces flaking off. Leaves possess a stout angular petiole. The compound leaves are usually about 20-45 cm long and covered with rusty hairs giving a scurry effect particularly along the upper surface but this eventually falls off. There are 10-12 pairs of stout opposite pinnae. The middle pairs are 7-13 cm long and also have rusty hairs along the central grove. There are usually 12-15 pairs of opposite stalkless pinnules (leaflets), each 12-15 cm long, 5-10 mm broad, with the middle pairs longest. Leaflets often have a rounded tip but are sometimes notched; the base is unequal. The inflorescences are spicate and the flowers pentamerous, creamy-yellow or pinkish-white and sweet smelling. In addition to the 5 stamens are 10-15 staminodes. The pods are 40-50 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. Fruit splits open explosively with the valves curling up. This is the form in which they appear on most trees. Usually, pods contain between 6-10 flat glossy brown seeds, which may vary in site. The seeds are up to 7 cm long.
Populus deltoides	Populus deltoides is a medium-sized to large tree, 20-30 (max. 50) m tall, 100 cm dbh; bark greyish-green and smooth at first, later blackish and furrowed; trunk short and massive in the open, often divided into a few large, wide-spreading limbs near the ground to form a broad, irregular-shaped, open crown. In the forest, the trunk is long, straight, with a small, rounded crown; root system usually shallow, wide spreading, may be deep in deep soils. It is one of the fastest growing trees, often planted where fast growth is the main requirement. Leaves broadly deltoid, 8-15 cm long and nearly as broad, glabrous on both sides, short-acuminate, dentate, with incurved glandular or callous-tipped teeth; bases truncate to subcordate, with 2-3 basal glands; petiole strongly flattened laterally. Bracts of catkins fringed or fimbriate, the divisions narrow; staminate aments 7.5-12.5 cm long, thick; stamens about 60 or more; anthers red; pistillate aments green and slender; ovaries glabrous; stigmas 3 or 4. Mature seed catkins 15-25 cm long; stalk hairless; capsules ovoid, 6-10 mm long, glabrous, green, splitting into 3-4 parts when mature; peduncle 3-10 mm long; seeds cottony. The generic name is the classical Latin name for poplars, possibly from ‘paipallo’ (vibrate or shake) or originating in ancient times when the poplar was called ‘arbor populi’ (the tree of the people), because in Rome it was used to decorate public places. The specific name means ‘triangular’, referring to the shape of the leaves, from the Greek letter delta and ‘oides’ (resembling).
Pouteria sapota	Pouteria sapota grows into a handsome, open tree with a thick central trunk and a few large limbs. Mamey sapote trees are large, erect to spreading trees which may grow to a height of about 12.2 m and may exceed 18.3 m in more tropical regions. Leaves large, up to 30.5 cm long, 10.2 cm wide, simple, and obovate to oblanceolate. The underside is lighter green or brownish and pubescent (hairy) when young but becomes glabrous (smooth) when mature. The leaves are clustered at the ends of the small branches. Depending on the cultivar (variety) and recent crop load, trees will shed most of the leaves in late winter or spring, but develop new leaves rapidly. Flowers small, perfect, whitish, almost sessile flowers are produced abundantly along smaller branches 1.3 to 5.1 cm, and tend to cluster towards the ends. Fruit a berry, ovoid to ellipsoid in shape, with a persistent calyx at the base. Most vary from 7.6 to 20.3 cm in length. The skin is thick and woody with a russet brown, somewhat scurfy surface. The pulp of mature fruits is salmon pink, orange, red or reddish-brown in color, soft and smooth to finely granular in texture, usually low in fiber. The pulp has a sweet, almond-like, unique flavor. Normally, the fruit contains a single, large, elliptical seed but it may have up to four. The seed has a shiny, hard, dark brown surface with a light brown hilum on the ventral side. Seeds may crack and sprout in over mature fruits. Fruit weight ranges from 0.3-2.7 kg The name “Mamey” originated from the confusion with Mammea americana.
Prosopis africana	Prosopis africana reaches 4-20 m in height; has an open crown and slightly rounded buttresses; bark is very dark, scaly, slash orange to red-brown with white streaks. Foliage drooping; leaves alternate, bipinnate; rachis 10-15 cm long with 3-6 pairs of opposite pinnae (5-8 cm long); 9-16 pairs of leaflets, oblong-lanceolate, 12-30 mm, pubescent; a typical gland between pairs of pinnae and leaflets. Flowers greenish-white to yellow, fragrant, in dense 6-10 cm long axillary spikes; calyx pubescent but petals glabrous; 10 free-standing stamens; anthers with a small apical gland. Pods dark brown, cylindrical, thick and hard, shiny, up to 15 x 3 cm, with woody walls, compartmented; about 10 loose, rattling seeds per pod with a thin, intermarginal line around.
Prosopis juliflora	Prosopis juliflora is an evergreen tree with a large crown and an open canopy, growing to a height of 5-10 m. Stem green-brown, sinuous and twisted, with axial thorns situated on both sides of the nodes and branches. Bark somewhat rough; dull red. The root system includes a deep taproot. Leaves compound; leaflets in 13-25 pairs, oblong (3 x 1.7 mm) and dark green, bipinnate with 1 or sometimes 2 pairs of rachis, almost pendulous. Flowers latteral to the axis with a tubular, light greenish-yellow, 1.5 mm wide calyx with hooded teeth; corolla light greenish-yellow, composed of 5 petals with 3 mm wide pubescent along its edges. Fruit a non-dehiscent pod, straight, linear, falcate to annular, with a coraceous mesocarp in 1 segment or divided into several segments; seeds compressed, ovoid, hard, dark brown, with mucilaginous endosperm surrounding the embryo; cotyledons flat, rounded, epigenous when germinating.
Prosopis tamarugo	Prosopis tamarugo is a deciduous open-crowned tree up to 18 m tall, the trunk to 80 cm in diameter; with a dense mat of lateral roots and deep taproot (to 6 m deep on tree 15 m tall). Crown globe-like and irregular in shape; fissured bark, dark grey. Leaves unijugate, the pinnae 3-4 cm long or less, with 10-15 pairs of leaflets; leaflets linear obtuse or acutish, 4-8 mm long. Flowers golden yellow, in long axillary cylindrical spikes. Stipules spiny, 5-38 mm long. Brown calyx 1.5 mm long; corolla 4-5 mm long; ovary villous. Pod arcuate, turgid, brown or stramineous, 2-8 cm long, 2-3.5 cm in diameter with ca 6-8 seeds embedded in a brownish edible pulp, seeds ovate, 3-4.3 mm long.
Pterocarpus rotundifolius	Pterocarpus rotundifolius is a multi-stemmed deciduous tree up to 20 m in height. Crown open and roundish, branching from reasonably low down. Bark brownish-grey. Leaves compound, leaflets 1-3 pairs and a terminal leaflet, glossy, pale green. Nerves conspicuously parallel. Glabrous above and puberulous below. Leaf stalk 3-5 cm long and covered with velvety hairs. Flowers fragrant, abundant, in terminal inflorescences, 15 cm long; petals yellow, crinkly. Fruit a reddish brown indehiscent pod. Pterocarpus is based on the Greek words ‘pteran’ meaning a wing and, ‘karpos’ meaning’ fruit. The specific epithet “rotundifolius” describes its round or circular leaflets.
Punica granatum	Punica granatum is a small multi-stemmed shrub/tree 5-10 m tall. Canopy open, crown base low. Stem woody and spiny, bark smooth and dark grey. Leaves simple, 2-8 cm long, oblong or obovate, glabrous, oppositely placed, short-petioled surface shining. Flowers regular, solitary or in fascicles at apices, 4-6 cm. Petals lanceolate, 5-7, wrinkled and brilliant orange-red. Hypanthium coloured, 5-8 lobed. Anthers numerous. Calyx persistent. Fruit a round berry, 5-12 cm, pericarp leathery. Interior compartmentalized with many pink-red sections of pulp-like tissue, each contains a seed grain. Fruits globose with persistent callipe and a coriaceous woody rind. Seeds numerous, angular with fleshy testa, 1.3 cm long. Two subspecies are recognized on basis of ovary colour; subsp. chlorocarpa and porphyrocarpa. Numerous cultivars, some dating to the 13th Century, are known. The specific epithet granatum derives from Latin granum "grain" and means "many-grained". Only two species, P. granatum and P. protopunica, are known for this monogeneric family with close affiliations to the Lythraceae. P. protopunica is endemic to Socotra and is listed as an endangered plant in the IUCN Red List.
Robinia pseudoacacia	Robinia pseudoacacia is a medium-size tree, 25 m tall, 60 cm dbh; trunk irregular; crown open, irregular; branches short, brittle; the persistent stout spines on young shoots are found on mature wood; the smooth bark becomes reddish-brown and deeply furrowed with age. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, pinnately compound, composed of 7-19 leaflets (terminal leaflets present) on a central stalk 20-30 cm long; 2 spines (modified stipules) at the base of each leaf; leaflets oval, 30-50 mm long, dull green, bristle tipped, smooth margined. Flowers showy, white, pealike, fragrant, in loose, drooping clusters, about 14 cm long, arising from leaf axils near the tip of a new shoot. Fruits are pods, 7-10 cm long, flat; husk thin walled, smooth, dark to reddish-brown, several on a central stalk, remain on the tree during winter; seeds dark, beanlike, 3-5 mm long, 5-8 per pod, with a hard impermeable coat. The genus was named after Jean Robin (1550-1629) and his son Vespasien Robin (1579-1662), herbalists to Henri IV of France, who 1st cultivated R. pseudoacacia in Europe. The specific name is derived from Greek ‘pseudes’ (false), and ‘acacia’; the tree looks like an acacia though it is not one. The name ‘locust’ was given by early missionaries who fancied that the tree was the one that supported St John in the wilderness. It is, however, an American tree, which is not native to any other part of the world.
Salix babylonica	Salix babylonica is a deciduous, short-lived tree to 20 m tall and d.b.h. of 60-80 cm. Stem furrowed, usually dividing near the ground, crown open, branches pendulous. Bark grey-black. Leaves lanceolate to linear lanceolate, 9-16 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, margins finely serrate, slightly shiny, dark green above, grey-green with distinctly reticulate venation beneath. Leaf stalk 5-10 mm long, pubescent. Flowers in short, terminal catkins on leafy peduncles. Male catkin is 1.8-3 cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide. Female catkin 1.5-2.5 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, appearing with leaves in April-May. Fruit a yellowish-brown capsule, narrowly conic to 3-4 mm long, glabrous.
Sarcocephalus latifolius	Sarcocephalus latifolius is a multi-stemmed tree or shrub up to 12 m. It has an open canopy. Flowers with terminal spherical head-like cymes of small whitish flowers. In Nauclea, the flowers are joined by their calyces. The fruit is a syncarp. The tribe Naucleae to which S. latifolius belongs shows similarities to the family Combretaceae. Some authors have seperated the tribe into a new family Naucleceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words sarco (fleshy) and cephalus (headed) in reference to the flowers. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words lati (broad) and folius (leaved).
Schizolobium parahybum	Schizolobium parahybum is unarmed, with a cylindrical bole, high buttresses and a wide spreading, open crown. Leaves bipinnate, large; pinnae 15-20 pairs, fernlike; leaflets small, elliptic, 10-20 pairs, stipules absent. Flowers golden yellow, large, profusely produced in axillary semi-erect racemes or terminal panicles; bracts minute; bracteoles absent; calyx tube obliquely turbinate; lobes 5, overlapping, reflexed at flowering; petals 5, clawed, subequal, overlapping, uppermost petal innermost; stamens 10, free, subdeclinate; filaments villous, basally rough; anthers uniform, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary subsessile affixed to 1 side of calyx tube, many-ovuled, style filiform; stigma minute, terminal. Pod flat, spoon or tear-drop shaped, exocarp firm, leathery, tardily dehiscent. Seed large, oblong, compressed, located near apex. The genus Schizolobium has 4-5 members. The generic name is derived from the Greek verb schizo, “divide” and lobion, “pod”; the inner and outer layers of the pod separate at maturity, whereas the specific epithet is after the Parahyba River in Brazil.
Securidaca longepedunculata	Securidaca longipedunculata is a semi-deciduous shrub or small tree that grows to 12 m tall, with an often flattened or slightly fluted bole. It is spiny and much branched, with an open, rather straggly looking crown. Leaves alternate or clustered on dwarf, lateral branchlets, simple, variable in size and shape, broadly oblong to narrowly elliptic, 1-5 x 0.5-2 cm with very fine hairs when young but losing these by maturity; apex rounded; base narrowly tapering; margin entire; petiole slender, up to 5 mm long. Flowers rather small, about 10 mm long, pink to lilac or purple, sweetly scented, on long slender stalks produced in beautiful profusion in terminal axillary sprays 3-5 cm long, appearing with the very young leaves; bisexual; sepals 5, unequal, the lateral 2 being petalloid, large and winglike; petals 3, free, the medium petal hooked; stamens 8, joined to form a split tube. Fruit is more or less a round nut, somewhat heavily veined, occasionally smooth, bearing a single, oblong, rather curved, membranous wing up to 4 cm long; purplish-green when young, becoming pale, straw-coloured when mature. The hatchetlike appearance of the fruit is referred to in the generic name, while the specific name, ‘longipedunculata’, refers to the long, slender stalks of the flowers.
Senna siamea	Senna siamea is a medium-size, evergreen tree growing up to 18 m tall, with a straight trunk of up to 30 cm in diameter; bole short, crown usually dense and rounded at first, later becoming irregular and spreading with drooping branches. Bark grey or light brown, smooth but becoming slightly fissured with age. The root system consists of a few thick roots, growing to considerable depth, and a dense mat of rootlets in the top 10-20 cm of soil, which may reach a distance of 7 m from the stem in 1 year and eventually a distance up to 15 m. Leaves alternate, pinnately compound, 23-33 cm long, with slender, green-reddish, tinged axis; leaflets 6-12 pairs on short stalks of 3 mm, oblong, 3-7 cm long, 12-20 mm wide, rounded at both ends, with tiny bristle tip. Flower clusters are upright at ends of twigs, large branched, 20-30 cm long, 13 cm broad, with many bright yellow flowers 3 cm across, pentamerous; sepals imbricate, obtuse at the apex; petals subequal to heteromorphic, yellow; stamens 10, accrescent toward the abaxial side of the flower; filaments straight and not more than twice as long as the anthers; ovary superior, linear and curved. Pods numerous, long, narrow, 5-25 cm long, 12-20 mm broad, flat, dark brown, strap shaped, stipitate, terete to compressed, dehiscent, with septae between the numerous seeds; seeds are bean shaped, shiny, dark brown, 8 mm long, with distinct areole.
Senna singueana	Senna singueana is a shrub or small tree 1-15 m high; branchlets glabrous to densely pubescent, crown open; bark reddish, becoming grey-brown and rough with age. Leaves compound, with 4-10 pairs of oval leaflets, 2.5-5 cm long, rachis with a conspicuous gland between each pair of leaflets, rounded at apex, glabrous or nearly so to densely pubescent. Flowers deep yellow, fragrant, in racemes to 15 cm, often aggregated towards branchlet-ends and often produced when the plant is leafless; flower stalks 2-4 cm, with conspicuous glands. Pods linear, straight or somewhat twisted, torulose, slightly compressed, 5-26 cm long, indehiscent, with stiff and rather hard valves, glabrous to pubescent, rounded to abruptly acute and often apiculate at apex; yellowish when ripe. Seeds dull brown, almost circular, flattened, 5-6 mm in diameter, with a small areole 2-2.5 x 1-1.5 mm on each face. The specific name means ‘from Singu’. The type specimen was collected at Singu in Ethiopia.
Sesbania sesban	Sesbania sesban is a narrow-crowned, deep-rooting single or multi stemmed shrub or small tree, 1-7 m tall. The trees usually have a main stem but may develop many side branches if widely spaced. The many branches give the tree a shrubby appearance, often tending towards a spreading habit due to its wide branching angle (45-60 deg. Mostly). Leaves paripinnate, long, narrow; leaflets in many pairs, rounded or oblong, usually asymmetric at the base, often glaucous; stipules minute or absent. Flowers attractive, yellow, red, purplish, variegated or streaked, seldom white, large or small on slender pedicels, solitary or paired in short axillary racemes, usually unpleasantly scented; all petals long clawed, standard orbicular or obovate. Pods pale yellow, linear, usually 10-20 cm long, cylindrical or compressed, rarely oblong; up to 40 seeds are found in a pod; seeds oblong or subquadrate, brown or dark green mottled with black. Two subspecies are recognized within S. sesban, namely ssp. punctata (restricted to northern portions of sub-Saharan Africa) and ssp. sesban.
Tectona grandis	Tectona grandis is a large, deciduous tree reaching over 30 m in height in favourable conditions. Crown open with many small branches; the bole is often buttressed and may be fluted, up to 15 m long below the 1st branches, up to 1 m dbh. Bark is brown, distinctly fibrous with shallow, longitudinal fissures. The root system is superficial, often no deeper than 50 cm, but roots may extend laterally up to 15 m from the stem. The very large, 4-sided leaves are shed for 3-4 months during the later half of the dry season, leaving the branchlets bare. Shiny above, hairy below, vein network clear, about 30 x 20 cm but young leaves up to 1 m long. Flowers small, about 8 mm across, mauve to white and arranged in large, flowering heads, about 45 cm long; found on the topmost branches in the unshaded part of the crown. Fruit is a drupe with 4 chambers; round, hard and woody, enclosed in an inflated, bladder-like covering; pale green at first, then brown at maturity. Each fruit may contain 0 to 4 seeds. There are 1 000-3500 fruits/kg. The generic name comes from ‘tekka’, the Malabar name for T. grandis. The specific name, ‘grandis’, is Latin for ‘large’ or ‘great’.
Terminalia superba	Terminalia superba is a large tree, up to 50 m tall and 5 m in girth, bole cylindrical, long and straight with large, flat buttresses, 6 m above the soil surface; crown open, generally flattened, consisting of a few whorled branches. Bark fairly smooth, greying, flaking off in small patches; slash yellow. Root system frequently fairly shallow, and as the tree ages the taproot disappears. Buttresses, from which descending roots arise at some distance from the trunk, then support the tree. Leaves simple, alternate, in tufts at the ends of the branches; deciduous, leaving pronounced scars on twigs when shed. Petiole 3-7 cm long, flattened above, with a pair of subopposite glands below the blade; lamina glabrous, obovate, 6-12 x 2.5-7 cm, with a short acuminate apex. Nerves 6-8 pairs; secondary reticulation inconspicuous. Inflorescence a 7-18-cm, laxly flowered spike, peduncle densely pubescent; flowers sessile, small, greenish-white; calyx tube saucer shaped, with 5 short triangular lobes. Petals absent. Stamens usually twice the number of calyx lobes (usually 10), in 2 whorls, glabrous; filaments a little longer than calyx; intrastaminal disc annular, flattened, 0.3 mm thick; densely woolly pubescent. Fruit a small, transversely winged, sessile, golden-brown smooth nut, 1.5-2.5 x 4-7 cm (including the wings). Nut without the wing about 1.5 x 2 cm when mature, usually containing 1 seed. The generic name comes from the Latin ‘terminalis’ (ending), and refers to the habit of the leaves being crowded at the ends of the shoots.
Zanthoxylum chalybeum	Zanthoxylum chalybeum is a deciduous spiny shrub or tree up to 12 m, crown rounded but open. Bark pale grey; smooth dark with scales and prickles. The bole has characteristic large, conical, woody knobs with sharp prickles. The branches also bear scattered thorns with conspicuous dark scales. Leaves compound, usually 3-5 pairs of shiny leaflets plus a terminal leaflet; leaflets oblong to elliptic or lanceolate, 2.5-7 x 1-2.5 cm, with a strong citrus smell when crushed; sparsely dotted with pellucid glands; petiole 1-5 cm long, the petiole and rachis with small, hooked prickles scattered along the length. Flowers sweet scented, inconspicuous, yellowish-green, in short sprays (racemes or panicles) 5-10 cm long, produced immediately below the leaves at the base of the new branchlets. Fruit spherical, about 5 mm in diameter, reddish-brown, splitting to allow the shiny black seeds to partly protrude. Zanthoxylum means ‘yellow wood’, from the Greek ‘xanthos’ (yellow) and ‘xylon’ (wood). The specific epithet chalybeum means steel grey.