Leucaena leucocephala

Coffee bush, false koa, hedge acacia, horse tamarind, Λευκαίνα η λευκοκέφαλη. Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit) is a fast growing, evergreen, thornless shrub, reaching a height of 5 m to 20 m. Leucaena is a long-lived perennial legume (around 23 year half-life in difficult conditions in Australia). It has a deep taproot and is highly branched. Leaves are bipinnate, bearing numerous leaflets 8 mm to 16 mm long. The inflorescence is a cream coloured globular shape producing clusters of flat brown pods, 13 to 18 mm long containing 15-30 seeds. Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year.

Leucaena is valuable for its wood, which is used to make good quality charcoal, small furniture and paper pulp. Its young shoots, young leaves and seeds may be used as a vegetable in human nutrition. Seeds can also be used as a substitute of coffee or as pieces of jewellery.

L. leucocephala is considered one of the 100 worst invasive species by the Invasive Species Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. It is a highly invasive species in the arid parts of Taiwan, The Bahamas, the Hawaiian Islands, Fiji, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, South Africa and northern Australia as well as in South America and Europe. It grows quickly and forms dense thickets that crowd out all native vegetation. In urban areas, it is an especially unwanted species, growing along arid roadsides, in carparks, and on abandoned land.