Trees & Plants

Rain tree

Reethigas, Bodu gas

Albizia saman (Jacq.) Merr.

Common in inhabited islands – apparently naturalized. An excellent avenue tree, timber is durable and used for making furniture and plywood. The plant is a traditional of remedy for colds, diarrhea, headache, intestinal ailments and stomach ache. The leaf infusion is used as a la

Details

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uses: An excellent avenue tree, timber is durable and used for making furniture and plywood. The plant is a traditional of remedy for colds, diarrhea, headache, intestinal ailments and stomach ache. The leaf infusion is used as a laxative. In West Indies, seeds are chewed for sore throat. The alcholic extract of the leaves inhibits growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Th reat & damage: The species has become naturalised in many countries due to its high reproductive potential, orthodox seeds and adaptability to a wide range of in environmental conditons. It can dominate over native vegetation and invade natural forest ecosystems.
family: Fabaceae
synonym: Mimosa saman Jacq., Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr.
description: Trees, to 30 m high, bark rough, deeply fissured. Leaves bipinnate, alternate; rachis 19-24 cm long, pubescent, pulvinate; pinnae 6-7 pairs, 3-15 cm long, 2-glands at the top of the pulvinous on the upper side and one between each pair of leaflets; leaflets 6-16, opposite, subsessile, × 1.5-4.5 1-3 cm, oblong or ovate-oblong, base obliquely truncate, apex obtuse, Th mucronate, glaucous beneath. Flowers subsessile, in dense heads, peduncle 6-10 cm long, solitary or 2-3 together in the axils Th of leaves. Calyx 3-5 mm long. Petals 8-13 mm long, pinkish, lobes 5, ovate. Stamens many, 3 cm long, united at the base in a tube; filament white in the basal half and pink in × the upper portion. Fruit a pod, 12-20 1-2.5 cm, indehiscent, epicarp thin, crustaceous, glossy brown, mesocarp pulpy, sticky; seeds × 16-20, 1 0.6 cm, smooth, brown, glossy.
native range: Central and South America
distribution: Widely planted in the tropics as an avenue tree; invasive in the Pacific Islands
english names: Rain tree · Cow tamarind · Monkeypod an
flowering fruiting: February – May
occurrence maldives: Common in inhabited islands – apparently naturalized.