Paraserianthes lophantha

Paraserianthes lophantha, commonly called Albizia, Cape Leeuwin Wattle, Cape Wattle, Crested Wattle or plume albizia, is a fast-growing wattle with creamy-yellow, bottlebrush like flowers. It is a small tree (uppermost height approximately 5 metres) that occurs naturally along the southwest coast of Western Australia, from Fremantle to King George Sound.[4] It was first spread beyond southwest Australia by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave packets of P. lophantha seeds to early explorers under the assumption that if they planted the seeds at their campsites, the trees would indicate the routes they travelled.[5]

Paraserianthes lophantha
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae[1]
(unranked):	Mimosoid clade[1]
Genus:	Paraserianthes
Species:	P. lophantha
Binomial name
Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C.Nielsen[2][3]
Synonyms
Albizia lophantha

It is considered a weed in the parts of Australia where it is not indigenous,[6] as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the Canary Islands, and Chile.[7]

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1806 as Acacia lophantha by Willdenow, but was transferred to the genus Paraserianthes by Nielsen, Guinet and Baretta-Kuipers in 1983.[2][3]

Seed pods

Inflorescence

See also

• Invasive species in Australia
• Invasive plants of Australian origin

References

1. The Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). (2017). "A new subfamily classification of the Leguminosae based on a taxonomically comprehensive phylogeny". Taxon. 66 (1): 44–77. doi:10.12705/661.3.
2. "Paraserianthes lophantha". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
3. Nielsen, I.; Baretta-Kuipers, T.; Guinet, P. (1983). "Studies in the Malesian, Australian and Pacific Ingeae (Leguminosae-Mimosoideae): the genera Archidendropsis, Wallaceodendron, Paraserianthes, Pararchidendron and Serianthes (part 1)". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Section B,Adansonia, botanique, phytochimie. 5 (3): 326. ISSN 0240-8937. Wikidata Q101031463.
4. "Paraserianthes lophantha (synonym Albizia lophantha)". 2003-12-16. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
5. http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card=E10# Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Weed of the month archive". Angair Inc. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
7. "Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C.Nielsen". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2020-10-31.

Further reading

• Randall, Roderick Peter (2002). A Global Compendium of Weeds. Melbourne: R. G. & F. J. Richardson. ISBN 978-0-9587439-8-3.
• Blood, Kate (2001). Environmental Weeds: A Field Guide for SE Australia. Mount Waverley, Victoria: C. H. Jerram & Associates. ISBN 978-0-9579086-0-4.