Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Albizia julibrissin - Silk Tree

Edible portion: Leaves, Flowers, Leaves - tea, Vegetable

A tree which grows up to 12 m tall and spreads to 10 m wide. It loses its leaves during the year. The crown tends to be flat. The bark is dark brown and smooth. The leaves are twice divided. Each primary leaflet has 20-30 pairs of secondary leaflets. These are 1.5 cm long. The leaflets fold together at night. The flowers are in round pink heads. The stamens are long and silky. The fruit are seed pods. They are 15 cm long.

It is a temperate to tropical plant. It grows naturally from Iran to China in open sunny ravines, forests and by rivers up to 2100 metres in the Himalayas. It needs a well drained but moist soil but can grow in dry soil. They can tolerate high pH, salty soils, drought and wind. Trees when dormant are hardy to -10°C or in continental climates - 20°C. Young growth is frost tender. It suits hardiness zones 6-12. It grows well in places with cool winters and hot summers. Arboretum Tasmania. in Yunnan.