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 leptocarpa	Acacia leptocarpa varies from a single-stemmed shrub, 3-5 m tall, usually with a short main stem, to a small tree 12-15 m tall; main trunk may be 4 m long and 25 cm in diameter. It is well branched and has a light to moderately dense crown. The branchlets and new shoots are glabrous, but the shoots are encrusted with a layer of brown resin; on large trees the bark is deeply furrowed, but on smaller stems it is thin and more or less tessellated. Phyllodes are sickle shaped, 12-26 x 1-3.5 cm, thinly textured, glabrous; base attenuated and not confluent with the lower margin; 3 prominent, yellowish longitudinal veins with parallel and widely spaced secondary veins. Flowers pale yellow to bright yellow, subdensely arranged in cylindrical spikes, 3.5-9.5 cm long, spikes in groups of 2-5 within phyllode axils. Pods are linear, somewhat coiled, up to 12 cm x 3 mm, flat but raised over the seeds; seeds are longitudinal in the pod, 3-5 x 2-3 mm, and the yellow-orange funicle is folded many times to form an aril that can be longer than the seed. The generic name ‘acacia’ comes from the Greek word ‘akis’, meaning a point or a barb. The specific name is derived from the Greek 'lepos'-slender and 'carpos'-fruit, alluding to the slender pods.
Agathis macrophylla	Agathis macrophylla is a tall tree typically to about 30–40 m tall, 3 m in bole diameter, with a broad canopy of up to 36 m diameter. Branches may be erect to horizontal and massive. Mature specimens have wide, spreading root systems whereas seedlings and young specimens have a vigorous taproot with one or more whorls of lateral roots. Leaves simple, entire, elliptic to lanceolate, leathery, and dark green, and shiny above and often glaucous below; about 7–15 cm long and 2–3.5 cm wide, with many close inconspicuous parallel veins. The leaves taper to a more or less pointed tip, rounded at the base, with the margins curved down at the edge. Petioles short, from almost sessile up to 5 mm long. Cones egg-shaped at the end of the first year, about 5 cm long, and 3 cm in diameter, more or less round at the end of the second year, 8–10 cm in diameter. Female cones much larger than males, globular, on thick woody stalks, green, slightly glaucous, turning brownish during ripening. Seeds brown, small, ovoid to globose, flattened, winged, and attached to a triangular cone scale about 2.5 cm across.
Albizia anthelmintica	Albizia anthelmintica is a thorny/spiny, deciduous, multi-stemmed, medium canopied tree growing to about 8m. Bark smooth, gray to brown. Young branchlets glabrous or sometimes shortly pubescent, twigs are often spine-tipped. Leaves bipinnate in 1-5 pairs, leaflets opposite, 7-36 mm long, 6-31 mm wide, apex mucronate. Flowers usually on leafless twigs, pedicels 0.5-5.5 mm long. Calyx pale greenish, 3-5 mm long. Corolla pale green 6-12 mm long, glabrous, staminal filaments white, about 1.5-2 cm long. Fruit a pod, 7-18 cm long, 1.5-2.9 cm wide, straw colored, papery and pointed. Seeds round and flattened, 6-8 per pod, 9-13 mm in diameter. The genus was named after Filippo del Albizzi, a Florentine nobleman who in 1749 introduced A. julibrissin into cultivation. The latin specific epithet arises from the common medicinal use of this tree’s parts for deworming. The species is becoming rare due to over-utilisation, a typical case is Kordofan area of Sudan.
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’.
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).
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.
Artocarpus camansi	Artocarpus camansi is a moderately fast growing, single-stemmed, evergreen tree of 10-15 m or more with a trunk 1 m in diameter or larger, often growing to a height of 5 m before branching; a spreading canopy of diameter about half of the tree height and a more open branching structure than breadfruit (A. altilis) or dugdug (A. mariannensis). The tree forms buttresses at the base; roots spread and grow on or slightly below the surface. Sticky, white, milky latex is present in all parts of the tree. Leaves alternate, large, 40–60 cm long, moderately dissected with 4–6 pairs of lobes and sinuses cut half way to the midrib. New leaves on young trees can be 76 cm long or more; densely pubescent, with many white or reddishwhite hairs on upper and lower veins, lower leaf surface, and petiole. Blade is dull green with green veins. Two large green stipules enclose the bud, turning yellow before dehiscing. Flowers monoecious occuring at the ends of branches, with the male inflorescence appearing first. Male flowers are club-shaped, up to 3 cm in diameter and 25–35 cm long or longer. Female inflorescences consist of 1500–2000 reduced flowers attached to a spongy core. Unlike breadfruit, the individual flowers do not fuse together along their length. Fruit a large fleshy syncarp, oval or ovoid, 7-12 cm in diameter and weighs about 800 g; the skin dull green to green-yellow when ripe with a spiny texture from the pointed, flexible, long tips of the individual flowers; the scanty pulp yellow-whitish when ripe with a sweet aroma and taste. Seeds, 12-150 per fruit, rounded or flattened, about 2.5 cm long with a thin, light brown outer seed coat patterned with darker veins, weighs 7-10 g each and comprising 30-50% or more of the total fruit weight. Breadnut can be readily distinguished from its close relative, breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), by its very spiny fruits with little pulp and numerous large, light brown seeds. Artocarpus camansi has often been considered to be a form of seeded breadfruit. Breadfruit, however, is a separate species that originated from its wild seeded ancestor, breadnut.
Artocarpus mariannensis	Artocarpus altilis is a large evergreen, spreading canopy, single-trunked tree up to 20 m or more with buttressed trunks more than 2 m in diameter at the base often not branching below 5 m from the ground. The tree is shallow-rooted. Sticky white latex is present in all parts of the tree. The bark is smooth, brownish-gray, with new shoots purplish green. Leaves alternate, 15–30 cm long, broadly obovate to elliptic, typically entire or shallowly 1–3 lobed on the upper third of leaf. Blade is smooth, glossy, flexible, dark green with greenish-yellow veins and few hairs on upper veins. Two large green stipules enclose the bud and turn yellow before dehiscing. Flowers monoecious, occuring at ends of branches, with the male inflorescence appearing first. Male flowers club-shaped, up to 3 cm in diameter and 8–12 cm long. Thousands of tiny flowers with two anthers each are attached to a central spongy core. Female inflorescences consist of 1500–2000 reduced flowers attached to a spongy core. The flowers fuse together and develop into the fleshy, edible portion of the fruit. Fruit a small fleshy syncarp, cylindrical, kidney shaped or asymmetrical, about 15 cm long, about 500 g; skin dark green, even when mature, with a pebbly texture from the raised, flattened, hexagonal disks of individual flowers; pulp whitish-yellow when immature and deep yellow when ripe, with a sweet aroma and taste. Seeds large, dark brown, shiny, 1.5 cm long, with little or no endosperm, up to 15 per fruit. Artocarpus marianensis can be readily distinguished from breadfruit (A. altilis) by the small, typically entire leaves. The dark green, lumpy fruit is smaller and more asymmetrical than breadfruit, with a dark yellow pulp. Artocarpus camansi (breadnut, kamansi) has oblong, very spiny fruits with little pulp and numerous large, light brown seeds, and large, shallowly dissected leaves with 4–6 pairs of lobes.
Balanites aegyptiaca	Balanites aegyptiaca is a multibranched, spiny shrub or tree up to l0 m high. Crown rounded, dense (but still seen through) with long stout branchlets. Trunk and bark grey, deeply fissured longitudinally. Leaves compound and spirally arranged on the shoots, dark green with 2 firm coriaceous leaflets; dimensions and shapes varying widely. Petiole canaliculate, from 5 mm to 20 mm with a short rachis. Most accounts indicate a maximum length of 8 mm for Uganda. Margin of each leaflet entire; lamina generally up to 6 cm long, 4 cm broad, although apparently smaller (1-3 x 0.3-1.5 cm) in the Sahara and in Palestine. Inflorescence a sessile or shortly pedunculate fascicle of a few flowers. Flower buds ovoid and tomentose. Individual flowers hermaphroditic, pentamerous an actinomorphic, 8-14 mm in diameter and generally greenish-yellow. Pedicels densely greyish, pubescent and rarely reaching 10 mm in length, although 15 mm is reported for Zambia and Zimbabwe. The usual length is about 8 mm. Fruit ellipsoid, up to 4 cm long, green. Ripe fruit brown or pale brown with a brittle coat enclosing a brown or brown-green sticky pulp and a hard stone seed. The name Balanites (from the Greek for acorn, referring to the fruit) was given in 1813 by Alire Delile and replaced Agialid (derived from the Arabic name for the tree, 'heglig').
Boswellia serrata	Boswellia serrata is a moderate-sized to large, deciduous tree with a light, spreading crown and somewhat drooping branches. It usually has a short bole, 3-5 m in length, sometimes longer if grown in a fully stocked forest. Ordinarily, it attains a girth of 1.2-1.8 m and a height of 9-15 m. Bark is very thin, greyish-green, ashy or reddish with a chlorophyll layer beneath the thin outer layer, which peels off in thin, papery flakes. Leaves alternate, exstipulate, imparipinnate, 20-45 cm in length, crowded towards the ends of the branches; leaflets 17-31 cm, opposite, 2.5-8 cm x 0.8-1.5 cm, basal pairs often smallest, sessile, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, crenate, very variable in size. Flowers white, in stout racemes, 10-20 cm long, shorter than the leaves, crowded towards the ends of branches, but not terminal. Calyx persistent, pubescent outside, 5 to 7-toothed; teeth small, deltoid. Petals 5-7 erect, free, 0.5 cm long. Fruits 1.3 cm long, trigonous, with three valves and three heart-shaped, 1-seeded pyrenes, winged, along with the margins. The specific name, serrata, comes from serra (a saw) referring to the toothed leaf-margins.
Cadaba farinosa	Cadaba farinosa is a slender shrub with a strongly furrowed stem, rarely straight with a yellowish grey bark. Young twigs densely covered with sessile or subsessile scales, sometimes mixed with stiff glandular and eglandular hairs. Leaves numerous and small, alternate on young shoots, clustered on older wood; leaf blade elliptic to obovate, 4-40 x 3-30 mm, apically rounded or retuse, mucronate, basally rounded or cuneate, farinose on both surfaces or glabrescent; petiole up to 3-4 mm long, densely farinose. Flowers yellowish-green in racemes with farinose axis, 0.8-4.5 cm long. Bracts trifid with reduced central segment, pedicels 0.7-1.5 cm long. Sepals 4, ovate-elliptic, commonly 5-12 x 4 mm, farinose outside, puberulous at margins. Petals 4, with claw 6-7 mm long and oblanceolate blade, 4-5 mm long. Androphore 7-9 mm long; stamens 5 with filaments 1-1.4 cm long, anthers 3.5 mm long. Gynophore 0.8-1.2 cm long, sparsely covered with subsessile or short-stalked glands. Ovary cylindrical, farinose and with a flattened stigma. Fruit oblong, cylindrical with contractions 5cm long and densely farinose. The interior of the fruit is orange-red when mature. Seeds are the size of a millet grain, comma-shaped, shiny, dark brown, and arranged in a single layer within the fruit. Two subspecies are recognized; subsp. farinosa with young twigs densely covered with sessile scales, pedicels and sepals shorter, subsp. adenotricha with young twigs covered with glandular or simple hairs often mixed with sessile scales, pedicels and sepals longer. C. farinosa Forssk. subsp. rarifolia is reported in Pakistan.
Caesalpinia velutina	Caesalpinia velutina is a small, thornless tree up to 10-12 m high and 30 cm diameter at breast height, with a straight upright form, generally light-branched and single-stemmed. Leaves large, bipinnate, with 2-4 pairs of pinnae and one terminal pinna; leaflets large, 5-7 pairs, 3-6 cm long, oblong. Flowers bright yellow arranged on loosely flowered terminal panicles. Pods oblong, 10-15 cm long, indehiscent, mid brown when ripe and occur in distinctive heavy clusters that persist on the tree for many months. The generic name is after A. Caesalpini, 1519-1603, Italian physician and botanist.
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.
Carissa edulis	Carissa edulis is a spiny, much branched, small tree, shrub or scrambler, up to 5 m in height, with a milky sap. Bark grey, smooth, young branchlets with or without hairs; spines simple, straight, 2-5 cm long, usually single. Leaves ovate to ovate-elliptic, opposite, occasionally almost circular, 2.5-6 x 1.8-3 cm, leathery, dark green above, paler green below, with or without short, soft hairs; lateral veins obscure; apex tapering, often with a bristlelike tip; base rounded to shallowly lobed; margin entire; petiole 1-4 mm long. Flowers white tinged with purple, red or pink, up to 1.8 cm long, about 2 cm in diameter, slender, tubular, with corolla lobes overlapping to the right, sweetly scented, in terminal heads about 4 cm in diameter. Fruits ovoid to almost spherical, up to 1.1 cm in diameter, red-black, ripening to purplish black, containing 2-4 flat seeds. C. edulis closely resembles C. bispinosa, the obvious feature separating them being that C. edulis has straight thorns and those of C. bispinosa are Y-shaped. The name Carissa is probably derived from the Sanskrit ‘corissa’, a name for one of the Indian species of the genus. The specific name, edulis, means edible.
Ceiba pentandra	Ceiba pentandra is a tall, deciduous tree bearing short, sharp prickles all along the trunk and branches; supported by pronounced buttresses at the base. It has a light crown and is leafless for a long period. The leaf is glabrous and digitate, being composed of 5, 7 or 9 leaflets. Leaves are alternate with slender green petioles. There are usually 5 leaflets in a mature form. The leaflets hang down on short stalks; short pointed at the base and apex, not toothed on edges, thin, bright to dark green above and dull green beneath. Great quantities of flowers are in lateral clusters near the ends of the twigs. Calyx cup-shaped, with 5-10 shallow teeth. Petals 5, white to rose coloured; brown, silky, densely hairy on the outer surface; stamens 5, longer than petals, united into a column at the base. Pistil a 5-celled ovary with a long style curved near the apex and an enlarged stigma. Fruit a leathery, ellipsoid, pendulous capsule, 10-30 cm long, usually tapering at both ends, rarely dehiscing on the tree. White, pale yellow or grey floss originates from the inside wall of the fruit. Seed capsules split open along 5 lines. Each capsule releases 120-175 seeds rounded black seeds embedded in a mass of grey woolly hairs. Seeds dark brown. The generic name comes from a local South American word. The specific name, ‘pentandra’, is Latin for ‘five-stemmed’; from the Greek word ‘penta’ (five) and ‘andron’ (male).
Dalbergia sissoo	Dalbergia sissoo is a medium to large-sized deciduous tree, growing up to 30 m in height and 80 cm dbh under favourable conditions. Crown wide spreading and thin. Bark thin, grey, longitudinally furrowed, exfoliating in narrow strips. Develops a long taproot from an early age, and numerous lateral ramifying roots. The leaves are imparipinate; leaflets 3-5, alternate, 2.5-3.6 cm in diameter, broad ovate, acuminate, glabrescent, petiolules 3-5 mm long. Flowers 5-8 mm long, pale white to dull yellow, racemes 2.5-3.7 cm long in short axillary panicles. Pods 5-7.5 cm x 8-13 mm, narrowed at the base, indehiscent, glabrous, with 1-4 seeds. Seeds 6-8 x 4-5 mm, kidney shaped, thin and flat, light brown. The generic name Dalbergia honours the Swedish brothers Nils and Carl Dalberg, who lived in the 18th century. The former was a botanist and the latter explored Surinam.
Didymopanax morototoni	Didymopanax morototoni is a medium-sized tree 8-30 m in height, with a cylinder-shaped bole that is straight and may reach up to 80 cm in diameter at the base; crown small with ramification only at the apex; branches not numerous; has scars on the leaf peduncles. Bark whitish and has a smooth surface. Leaves large, compound, digitate, 15-40 cm long, alternate; petiole long, 30-60 cm, with well-developed stipules, inserted obliquely on the stem; 10-11 folioles, with elliptical lance-shaped limb, acuminate, undulate, sinuate on the margin, semi-coriaceous, dark-green on the upper surface, brown-red and heavily pilose underneath. Flower clusters (panicled umbels) lateral, about 20-60 cm long and broad, with branches grey and finely hairy. Flowers very numerous in numerous small, rounded clusters (umbels) less than 1.3 cm across, on spreading flower stalks 1.6-4.7 mm long. The pentamerous, finely brownish and grey hairy flower about 4.7 mm across has a minute basal tube (hypanthium) less than 1.6 mm long enclosing the inferior ovary and bearing the minute 5-toothed calyx; petals 5, white, pointed, more than 1.6 mm long; stamens 5 and styles 2. Fruit a fleshy berry, grey and covered with a bloom, about 4-9 mm long and 6-12 mm broad; slightly flattened, with 2 styles at apex. It contains 2 oblong, flat brown seeds 4.7 mm long.
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.
Jatropha curcas	Jatropha curcas is a perennial, monoecious shrub or small tree up to 6 m high; bark pale brown, papery, peeling; slash exudes a copious watery latex, soapy to tough but soon becoming brittle and brownish when dry; branches glabrous, ascending, stout. Leaves alternate, palmate, petiolate, stipulate; stipules minute; petiole 2-20 cm long, blade 3-5 lobed, 12.5-18 x 11-16 cm, lobes acute or shortly acuminate at the apex, margins entire or undulating, leaf base deeply cordate, glabrous or pubescent only on the veins below, basal veins 7-9, prominent, venation reticulate. Inflorescence a cyme formed terminally on branches and complex, possessing main and co-florescences with paracladia. The plant is monoecious and flowers are unisexual; occasionally hermaphroditic flowers occur; 10 stamens arranged in 2 distinct whorls of 5 each in a single column in the androecium and in close proximity to each other. In the gynaecium, the 3 slender styles are connate to about 2/3 of their length, dilating to a massive bifurcate stigma. Female flowers with sepals up to 18 mm long, persistent; ovary 3-locular, ellipsoid, 1.5-2 mm in diameter, style bifid. Fruit an ellipsoid capsule 2.5-3 cm long, 2-3 cm in diameter, yellow, turning black. Seeds black, 2 per cell, ellipsoid, triangular-convex, 1.5-2 x 1-1.1 cm. The meaning of the specific name ‘curcas’ is not known. It was first given 400 years ago to ‘certain seeds’ by the Portuguese doctor Garcia de Orto, who published a work on Indian medicinal and drug plants in 1563.
Peltophorum dasyrhachis	Peltophorum dasyrhachis is a deciduous tree, up to 30 m tall, with a straight trunk and rather diffuse crown; root system with well-developed taproot and few superficial lateral roots; trunk up to 70 cm in diameter; bark up to 10 mm thick, reddish-brown inside; young branches reddish-tomentose, glabrescent. Leaves bipinnate, with 5-9 pairs of pinnae and 6-16 pairs of leaflets per pinna; stipules large, bipartite, branches pinnatifid or bipinnatifid; petiole up to 7 cm long, rachis up to 40 cm long, both reddish-pubescent; leaflets oblong-elliptical, 10-25 mm x 4-10 mm, sessile, base acute, obtuse or rounded, apex rounded-emarginate, finely pubescent, glabrescent, rather glaucous below, shiny above. Inflorescence an axillary, unbranched raceme, 15-30 cm long; bracts linear, 10-12 mm long, persisting until flowers open; pedicel 1.7-4 m long; calyx deeply 5-lobed, lobes ovate, 10-15 mm x 5-6 mm, densely velvety outside, glabrous inside; petals 5, obovate, 15-25 mm x 10-12 mm, spreading, yellow, hairy towards the base inside; stamens 10, free, filaments 10-15 mm long, woolly at base, anthers dorsifixed; ovary sessile, 5 mm long, hairy, 4-8-ovuled, style filiform, 12 mm long. Pod elliptical, sharp-pointed, 10-15 cm x 2-4 cm, flat, with a wing-like extension 4-5 mm broad on each suture, dull-brown when ripe, later blackish, 4-8-seeded, indehiscent, often hanging in bunches below the leaves. Seed flattened oblongoid, 10-12 mm x 5 mm, transversely positioned. Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 4-6 cm long; cotyledons stalked, 3-nerved, glabrous. P. dasyrhachis (often erroneously spelled 'dasyrrhachis') is related to P. pterocarpum (DC.) Backer ex K. Heyne, an important source of 'soga' dye. P. dasyrhachis can be distinguished by its crown that is uneven and not umbrella-shaped, its branched stipules, and its thick, reddish tomentum. The two species have occasionally been confounded in the literature. In northern Vietnam, a form of P. dasyrhachis occurs with unbranched stipules and early falling bracts, named var. tonkinense (Pierre) K. & S.S. Larsen.
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.
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.
Steganotaenia araliacea	Steganotaenia araliacea is a small savannah tree 2-7 m tall. Bark yellow-green or grey, rather waxy and peeling off in papery strips or rectangles. Leaves pinnate, crowded towards branch ends, aromatic; leaflets 2-3 pairs on a leaf stalk about 10 cm long with an expanded base around the stem, ovate, to 5 cm, sometimes stalked, margin toothed. Flowers small, green-white, in rounded compound clusters at twig ends. 3-7 long stalks arise together, each further bears a crown of small heads (umbels) about 8 cm across. Stamens longer than petals in male flowers. Fruit cream-brown, dehiscent, flat and heart shaped to 12 mm, winged each side with 3 ribs. The generic name is likely based on Greek ‘stegnas’ meaning covered and the Latin ‘taenia’ meaning band.
Stereospermum kunthianum	Stereospermum kunthianum is a deciduous shrub or tree, 3-15 m high, with a stem diameter of 25 cm; bark thin, grey to grey-black, smooth or flakes off in patches resembling the European plane tree; trunk rarely straight, mostly forked; branches twisted; branching is erect and spreading to form a light, rounded crown. Slash white or light brown. Leaves imparipinnately compound, 25 cm long, alternate with 2-4 (max. 6) almost opposite pairs of leaflets and 1 terminal leaflet; 5-9 leaflets with short, soft hairs, oblong to oblong elliptic, stiff, 5-8(max. 10) x 3-7.5 cm, green and hairless above and yellow-green with prominent veins under; apex broadly tapering, often abruptly attenuate; base tapering; margin entire, occasionally toothed in coppice growth; petiolules almost absent; petiole up to 7 cm long, caniculate at the top; young leaves sometimes toothed and hairy. Flowers precocious, fragrant, bisexual, showy, mauve to off-white, more usually pinkish with red streaks on the lower corolla lobes and produced in large, drooping panicles on long peduncles; corolla with a tube up to 3 cm long and spreading lobes, 3-4 cm in diameter; calyx bell shaped, irregularly 2- to 5-lobed, partially forming 2 lips; stamens 4, enclosed within the corolla tube; ovary linear-oblong, 2-chambered. Fruits slender, flat capsules or paired pods up to 45 x 1 cm, cylindrical, greenish-purple, reddish-brown to dark brown, pendulous, spirally twisted, smooth, splitting into 2 valves to release many flat, long, narrow, winged seeds. The remnants of the capsule remain on the tree for months.
Tipuana tipu	Tipuana tipu is a large, spreading semi-deciduous tree to 20 m, but occasionally to 30 m, with a light spreading crown and spreading branches. Bark red-brown; trunk fissured and flaking with age, bark on the branches grey and cracked, sap from the cut branches red and sticky. Leaves pinnate, alternate, petiolate, with pulvinus base; leaflets light green, each narrowly oblong to oblong elliptic, 4-5 cm long; margin entire, tip rounded, often notched, on a short stalk. Flowers many, in long, loose sprays, each with wavy yellow-orange petals. They appear in showy terminal and axillary racemes or panicles; calyx small, bell-shaped, 5-pointed; corolla papilionaceous, about 2 cm long. Fruit usual for the Fabaceae family. The only genus in the family with single-seeded, flat-winged fruit, yellow-green at first, looking like blossoms, later grey-brown, fibrous; indehiscent, winged pod (samara) staying on the tree for a long time. The generic name ‘tipuana’ is derived from the vernacular name ‘tipu’.