Digital Garden

Albizia lebbeck

Shirish

Scientific Name: Albizia lebbeck

Common Name: Shirish

Scientific name- Albizia lebbeck

Common name- East Indian walnut, lebbeck, lebbek tree, flea tree, frywood, koko, woman's tongue tree, siris tree (in English).

Family-   Fabaceae

Habit type- Tree  

Geographical Distribution and general features- Lebbek is native to tropical Africa, Asia and Northern Australia. It is widely naturalized within sub-humid, semi-arid tropics and subtropical areas where there is a marked dry season and a reliable rainy season. It is a deciduous, perennial medium-sized legume tree. It reaches 3-15 m in plantations and up to 30 m in the open. Its dense shade-producing crown can be as large as 30 m in diameter. 

Leaves: The compound leaves have a bipinnate shape, are either glabrous or have a slight hair on the axis; each pair of pinnae has two to eleven pairs of obliquely oblong leaflets and have a short stalk; the glabrous glands are elevated and elliptic to circular on the upper side of the stalk near the base and in between the majority of leaflet pairs. 

Flower: In the leaf axils and terminal panicles, the flowers appear singly or in small clusters. They are white, strongly scented, and have free stamens above the corolla in heads that are 18–36 mm across (excluding the stamens) on a sturdy stalk that is 5-7.5 cm long. The stamens are 30–40, yellowish-green on the top side and white on the underside, and they can reach a length of 5 cm. 

Products takes in use: 

Fodder:  A. lebbeck is grown in some areas primarily as fodder for camels, water buffalo and cattle. The leaves are reported to be good fodder, with 17-26% crude protein; 100 kg of leaves yield 11-12 kg of digestible protein, and 37 kg of digestible carbohydrates. The pods contain saponin and are not eaten in large amounts by sheep, although cattle eat them readily. 

Apiculture:  Its whitish flowers are fragrant, attracting bees. Highly regarded by bee-keepers for the light-colored honey its nectar provides. 

Fuel:  An excellent fuel wood species with a calorific value of 5200 kcal/g. A. amara fruits can yield 10 barrels of ethanol per hectare. 

Timber:  Sapwood is pale; heartwood is dark brown with black streaks and very decorative. It is moderately heavy and hard, strong and fairly durable, with a specific gravity of 0.5-0.6 kg/cubic m. The wood seasons well, works and polishes easily, can be used for interior moulding, parquet, furniture, paneling, turnery and general construction. It is also used for making agricultural implements and mine props. 

Gum or resin:  The trunk yields a reddish gum that is used as an adulterant of gum arabic. Tannin or dyestuff:  The bark is used locally in India for tanning fishing nets (tannin content of 7-11%). Medicine:  Leaves and seeds are used for eye problems, and the bark to treat boils. Saponin from pods and roots has spermicidal activity. 

Other products:  When dried and pounded, the bark can be used for soap.

Ecological Services: 

Erosion control:  Due to its extensive, fairly shallow root system, A. lebbek is a good soil binder and is recommended for eroded lands and erosion control, for example along river embankments. 

Shade or shelter:  The species is commonly grown as a shade tree in pastures, tea, coffee and cardamom plantations, and along avenues. It can be planted in exposed coastal situations and as quick-growing shelter for less hardy plants. 

Soil improver:  A. lebbeck is not Rhizobium specific, and native strains are nearly always capable of producing an abundance of nodules. The nitrogen-rich leaves are valuable as mulch and green manure which help in soil quality improvement. 

Ornamental:  In India A. lebbeck is often planted along roads and in home gardens.