| Belmont siris | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Albizia |
| Species: | A. canescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Albizia canescens Benth. | |
| Synonyms | |
Albizia plurijuga | |
Albizia canescens, commonly known as Belmont siris, [1] is a species of Albizia , endemic to Northern Australia.
While superficially similar to the closely related A. lebbek , which has an overlapping native range, A. canescens can be distinguished by several features. The crown of A. canescens is more open than that of A. lebbeck, and the foliage glaucous rather than dark green. Both the flowers and pods of A. canescens are small and inconspicuous compared to the showy, globular flowers and large pods of A. lebbeck, and the bark of A. canescens is fissured, corky and more fire resistant than the tessellated bark of A. lebbek. [2]
The growth habit of the species is variable, with individuals able to persist and fruit as either a large single stemmed tree to 10 metres, [3] or as a large multi-stemmed shrub. [2] The shrub form appears to develop as a result of coppice regeneration following burning and enables the species to survive in the eucalypt savannas of Northern Australia which are subject to frequent fire.
Albizia canescens is endemic to Northern Australia in a belt from The Kimberley across the Top End to Rockhampton in Central Queensland. [2] The species grows as a medium-sized tree scattered throughout eucalypt savannas. It is rarely abundant in any locale, though common on the CSIRO research station "Belmont" in Central Queensland, from whence it derives its common name. [1] The species appears to have been more common in the past, and the apparent decline may be due to increased fire and browsing pressure from introduced herbivores. [4]
The species is subject to the same diseases and pests that afflict A. lebbek. [2]
A. canescens exhibits an annual leaf drop that occurs with, or shortly prior to, the initiation of new leaf growth, so individuals are either evergreen or very briefly deciduous. [5]
Seeds are short lived and susceptible to insect attack.
Albizia canescens is a little-known tree even within its native range. In the early 20th century it was used to some degree as a source of high quality cabinet timber, although this use has apparently ceased, [2] possibly due to a decline in abundance. [4] However the species retains potential as a high value plantation species, [6] being capable of rapid growth. [2]
The species also has high potential as an agroforestry species, [7] due to the value of the leaves and pods as stock feed. [2] Although the leaf and pod fall is produced in lower quantities than those of A. lebbek, the material is much more palatable to livestock. A. canescens also enhances pasture growth at low densities. [2]
Aboriginal Australians traditionally used the gum of the tree as a food source. [2]
Albizia canescens is also contains many of the same psychoactive components as A. lebbeck although no record of its use as a psychoactive agent exists. [8] [9]
Eucalyptus is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of Eucalyptus are trees, often mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia and Angophora, they are commonly known as eucalypts or "gum trees". Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard, or stringy and leaves that have oil glands. The sepals and petals are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens, hence the name from Greek eû ("well") and kaluptós ("covered"). The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Four savanna forms exist; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.
Forage is a plant material eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.
Albizia is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and Australia, but mostly in the Old World tropics. In some locations, some species are considered weeds.
Acacia aneura, commonly known as mulga, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland Australia. It is a variable shrub or small tree with flat, narrowly linear to elliptic phyllodes, cylindrical spikes of bright yellow flowers and more or less flat and straight, leathery pods.
Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras. Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete, or glaciers.
Senegalia senegal is a small thorny deciduous tree from the genus Senegalia, which is known by several common names, including gum acacia, gum arabic tree, Sudan gum and Sudan gum arabic. In parts of India, it is known as Kher or Khor. It is native to semi-desert regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Oman, Pakistan, and west coastal India. It grows to a height of 5–12 metres (16-40'), with a trunk up to 30 cm (1') in diameter. Sudan is the source of the world's highest quality gum arabic, known locally as hashab gum in contrast to the related, but inferior, gum arabic from Red acacia or talah gum.
Albizia julibrissin, the Persian silk tree, pink silk tree, or mimosa tree, is a species of tree in the Fabaceae family, native to southwestern and eastern Asia.
Acacia harpophylla, commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coastal Queensland to northern New South Wales. It can reach up to 25 m (82 ft) tall and forms extensive open-forest communities on clay soils.
Erythroxylum australe is a shrub or small tree endemic to northern Australia. The plant is known by a variety of names including Brigalow erythroxylon shrub and dogwood.
Albizia lebbeck is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. Common names in English include siris, Indian siris, East Indian walnut, Broome raintree, lebbeck, lebbek tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Siris is also a common name of the genus Albizia.
Eucalyptus grandis, commonly known as the flooded gum or rose gum, is a tall tree with smooth bark, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it reaches 50 metres tall, though the largest specimens can exceed 80 metres tall. It is found on coastal areas and sub-coastal ranges from Newcastle in New South Wales northwards to west of Daintree in Queensland, mainly on flat land and lower slopes, where it is the dominant tree of wet forests and on the margins of rainforests.
Macroptilium atropurpureum, commonly referred to as purple bush-bean, or siratro is a perennial legume recognized by its climbing, dense, green vines and deep purple flowers. The plant is indigenous to the tropical and subtropical regions of North, Central, and South America, as far north as Texas in the USA and as far south as Peru and Brazil. It has been introduced for use as a food for stock to many tropical regions around the world. It has become an invasive pest plant in a number of areas, including the north-eastern coast of Australia. Rich in protein, M. atropurpureum is commonly used for cattle pastures intercropped with grass, used in hay, or as a ground cover to prevent soil erosion and to improve soil quality.
The Kimberley tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia, covering portions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory south of the Timor Sea.
The Victoria Plains tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia.
Xylopsocus gibbicollis, common name "common auger beetle", is a species of beetle of the family Bostrichidae.
The paperbark flycatcher, also known as the little restless flycatcher, is a passerine bird in the family Monarchidae. It occurs in tropical woodland and riverine habitats of northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Previously, some authorities lumped the paperbark flycatcher as a distinctive subspecies of the restless flycatcher of southern and eastern Australia, with which it forms a superspecies.
Chamaecrista rotundifolia, the round-leaf cassia, also known as pasto rastiero, roundleaf sensitive pea, and Wynn cassia, is a short-lived perennial or self-generating annual plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It originated in North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and Tropical South America but is grown in other parts of the world today.
Albizia chevalieri is a shrub or small tree within the family Fabaceae. It is native to West Africa and parts of Central Africa and is found in drier parts of the savanna.