Albizia harveyi
Albizia harveyi Fourn.
Common names
Sickle leaved Albizia, bushveld albizia (English); mulalantanga, mulalantete, mwikalankanga (Bemba); kanza, kanzaluchelo, munjelenjete (Kunda); chitongolo, kalimika, mkalanga, mbwalankanga, mjenjete, mkwangu, mpalankanga, mkalankanga, mjelenjete (Nyanja); mdalakanga, mukalankanga (Tumbuka)
The specific name honours V.H. Harvey, a botanist who worked on the flora of the Cape in the mid-nineteenth century.
General description and distinguishing characteristics
A small, deciduous tree up to 15m tall, with a flat or compressed rounded crown. Bark grey-brown to blackish, rough, fissured, young branchlets with grey to brown pubescence. Leaves compound, paripinnate, with a prominent gland on the upper side of the petiole; pinnae in 6-20 pairs, each bearing 12-27 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets small, 2-6 x 1-2 mm, sickle-shaped with a pointed, asymmetric apex. Lower leaf surface lighter than upper. Flowers white, scented, large fluffy heads, with multiple stamens up to 2 cm long (October-November). Fruit pods up to 18 x 3.5 cm, papery, brown-purple, flattened and dehiscent, ripening May to August the year after flowering.
Range and habitat
Albizia harveyi is widespread in eastern and southern Africa from Kenya down to South Africa. In the valley it is found in riverine fringe woodland and thicket on the levees and sand deposits of the valley’s major rivers. It is also found in mopane woodland on sand. Although it is widespread, it is not common in the valley.