Leucaena leucocephala
species of plant
Leucaena leucocephala is a small fast-growing mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala). It is now naturalized throughout the tropics including parts of Asia.
Common names include white leadtree, white popinac, horse tamarind, ipil-ipil, koa haole, tan-tan, and tangantangan.
Leucaena leucocephala is used for a variety of purposes, such as fencing, soil fertility, firewood, fiber, and livestock fodder.
Description
Leucaena leucocephala is a small tree, growing up to 7–18 metres (23–59 ft). Its bark is grey and cracked. The branches have no thorns, each branch has 6–8 pairs of leaf stalks that bear 11–23 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet is 8–17 mm long with a pale green surface and whitish underneath.
Its inflorescence is a cream-coloured puff with many stamens. They produce flat and straight seed pods measuring 13–18 cm (5.1–7.1 in) long that matures from a green colour to a brown; one pod contains between 15 and 30 seeds.
Ecology
Leucaena leucocephala is susceptible to insect infestations.
The public source identifies “Leucaena leucocephala” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Leucaena, leucocephala and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Leucaena leucocephala”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q35905. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Leucaena leucocephala” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.