Leucaena
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Leucaena is a Genus of about 24 species of trees and shrubs, distributed from Texas, U.S.A. to Peru.It belongs to subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae.
Some species grown (namely Leucaena leucocephala) has edible fruits (as unripe) and seeds, also used like livestock fodder, green manure, firewood crops, soil conservation, seeds used as beads (jumbie beans), now mooted as charcoal source and for energy (1 million barrels of oil per annum from 120 km²), anthelmintic in Sumatra, Indonesia. Leucaena esculenta called guaje in Mexico has its seeds eaten with salt, but in others species, toxic mimosine leads to loss of hair, infertility, etc.
[edit] List of species
- Leucaena collinsii
- Leucaena confertiflora
- Leucaena cuspidata
- Leucaena diversifolia
- Leucaena esculenta
- Leucaena greggii
- Leucaena involucrata
- Leucaena lanceolata
- Leucaena lempirana
- Leucaena leucocephala
- Leucaena macrophylla
- Leucaena magnifica
- Leucaena matudae
- Leucaena mixtec
- Leucaena multicapitula
- Leucaena pallida
- Leucaena pueblana
- Leucaena pulverulenta
- Leucaena retusa
- Leucaena salvadorensis
- Leucaena shannonii
- Leucaena spontanea
- Leucaena trichandra
- Leucaena trichodes
[edit] References
- Mabberley, D.J.(1997):The Plant-Book, 2nd Ed., Cambridge University Press, UK ISBN 0-521-41421-0
