Reveling in his first success in posting a picture... I've had this tree for about 25 years too. Grew it from a seed that I brought back from Hong Kong. I've been going under the assumption that its a mimosa, but I'm not sure if the memory is all that accurate. So here it is: Its not a "sensitive plant", the leaves don't close when touched, but they do close at night. Nothing in this house is sensitive. The flowers are creamy yellow, shaped like a dandelion-gone-to-seed, and the seeds come in 6 to 8 inch flat pods. And how do I know that? Because we left the house and plants in care of my then teenage son and I have no idea what he did to the plant, but it produced seeds. Probably starved it. I'm afraid to. Anyway, I've never again got seeds from it. The flowers just fall off after blooming. The seeds were good, I grew two more trees for me and gave some away.
I'm gonna have to buy some more books. I don't know what a Leucaena leucocephala is, or an Albizzia. I've had a Sophora (I killed it) and I don't think that's it...
I thought of Acacia. In any case it's likely some member of the Leguminosae family. Since the seed came from Hong Kong, you may want to have a look through a checklist of plants found there. It'll help to narrow down the possibilities.
Leucaena leucocephala looks pretty close to me. I'm not familiar with the plant first hand though. Here's the Purdue description of it, and a google picture search. Harry
That's it Wrygrass and Josephine: Leucaena leucocephala. The pictures are right on, although the Purdue description of "malodorous" leaves is not. Sounds like a great plant to have...in the tropics. Good for fuel, fodder, nitrogen fixing and popcorn. Now I wonder how my kid could make it go to seed and I can't. Thanks everybody
