Vasilis Teodoridis:
Fabaceae | Pithecellobium
1. Pithecellobium dulce (Roxburgh) Bentham; London J. Bot. 3: 213. 1844.
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Mimosa dulcis Roxburgh; Pl. Coromandel 1: 67. 1798.
Trees; evergreen. Branches often pendulous; branchlets armed with spinescent stipules. Pinnae 1 pair; glands at junction of pinnae and leaflets; leaflets sessile; 1 pair per pinna; elliptic or obovate-elliptic; 2-5 x 0.2-2.5 cm; both surfaces glabrous; reticulate veins raised abaxially; base slightly oblique; apex obtuse or emarginate. Inflorescence pedunculate heads; aggregated in terminal panicles. Calyx funnel-shaped; 1-1.5 mm; tomentose. Corolla ca. 6 mm. Stamens numerous; connate into a tube at base. Legume blackish brown; curved into a circle; flat; 5-7 cm in diam. Seeds dark brown; shiny; ovoid-ellipsoid; ca. 1.5 cm; hard; with pleurogram. Fl. Mar-Jun; fr. Jul. 2n = 26.
Cultivated in Fujian; Guangdong; Guangxi; Hainan; Jiangxi; Taiwan; Yunnan; Zhejiang [native to tropical regions of C and N South America; cultivated throughout the tropics].
The timber is used for general construction and the bark for its tannins.