Leucaena leucocephala
| Leucaena leucocephala | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Mimosoideae |
| Tribe: | Mimoseae |
| Genus: | Leucaena |
| Species: | L. leucocephala |
| Binomial name | |
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Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit |
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| Synonyms | |
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Leucaena leucocephala is a small fast-growing mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala), but is now naturalized throughout the tropics.
Common names include white leadtree,jumbay, river tamarind, Subabul, and white popinac.
The specific name is derived from the Greek words λευκό, meaning "white", and κέφαλος, meaning "head," referring to its flowers.
L. leucocephala is used for a variety of purposes, such as firewood, fiber, and fodder.
During the 1970s and 1980s, it was promoted as a "miracle tree" for its multiple uses. It has also been described as a "conflict tree" because it is used for forage production but spreads like a weed in some places.
The legume is promoted in several countries of Southeast Asia (at least Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand), most importantly as a source of quality animal feed, but also for residual use for firewood or charcoal production.
The legume provides an excellent source of high-protein cattle fodder. However, the fodder contains mimosine, a toxic amino acid.
In many cases this acid is metabolized by ruminants to goitrogenic DHP [3-hydroxy-4(1H) pyridone] in the rumen, but in some geographical areas, ruminants lack the organisms (such as Synergistes jonesii) that can degrade DHP.
In such cases, toxicity problems from ingestion of Leucaena have sometimes been overcome by infusing susceptible animals with rumen fluid from ruminants that possess such organisms, and more recently by inoculating cattle rumina with such organisms cultured in vitro.
Such measures have facilitated Leucaena use for fodder in Australia and elsewhere.
Leucaena leucocephala has been considered for biomass production because its reported yield of foliage corresponds to a dried mass of 2,000–20,000 kg/ha/year, and that of wood 30–40 m³/ha/year, with up to twice those amounts in favorable climates.
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Wikipedia