Silktree (Albizia julibrissin)
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Albizia
Species: A. julibrissin
Binomial name: Albizia julibrissin
Common names: Silktree, Mimosa
Albizia julibrissin is a species of legume in the genus Albizia, native to southwestern and eastern Asia, from Azerbaijan east to China and Korea.
Albizia julibrissin is a small deciduous tree growing to 5–12 m tall, with a broad crown of level or arching branches. The bark is dark greenish grey in colour and striped vertically as it gets older. The leaves are bipinnate, 20–45 cm long and 12–25 cm broad, divided into 6–12 pairs of pinnae, each with 20–30 pairs of leaflets; the leaflets are oblong, 1–1.5 cm long and 2–4 mm broad. The leaves slowly close during the night and when it rains.
The flowers are produced throughout the summer in dense inflorescences, the individual flowers with no petals but a tight cluster of stamens 2–3 cm long, white or pink with a white base, looking like silky threads The fruit is a flat brown pod 10–20 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad, containing several seeds inside. This plant requires a minimum of 200 frost free days to grow successfully.
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