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It is a fast growing, evergreen, thornless shrub, reaching a height of 5m to 20 m. It has a deep taproot and is highly branched. Flowering and fruiting occur throughout the year. It grows well in areas where annual rainfall ranges from 650 to 3000 mm and where day-temperatures are within 25°C and 30°C. It prefers neutral to mildly acid, well drained soils.
LEAVES: Leaves are bipinnate, bearing numerous leaflets 8 mm to 16 mm long. Leaflets are narrowly oblong to lanceolate in shape with pointed tips and are either hairless or have hairy margins.
FLOWERS: Flowers are borne in dense globular clusters, these clusters are borne in the leaf axils, with 1-3 clusters present in each axil. Each of the small flowers have 5 tiny sepals, 5 small greenish-white coloured petals and 10 prominent pale yellow or whitish coloured stamens.
FRUITS: Fruits are elongated, flattened, pods with a pointed tip. These pods are initially green in colour but turn brown or reddish-brown as they mature. Each of the pods contain 10-25 hard seeds that are glossy brown, flattened and elliptic-oblong in shape.
1. Leucaena is valuable for its wood, which is used to make good quality charcoal, small furniture and paper pulp.
2. Its young shoots, young leaves and seeds may be used as a vegetable in human nutrition its seeds can also be used as a substitute of coffee or as pieces of jewelry.
3. It is one of the highest quality and most palatable fodder trees of the tropics.
4. It helps in erosion control and land reclamation; its deep taproot helps breaking up compacted subsoil layers thus improving water penetration and reducing surface run-off.
5. It provides shade and acts as a shelterbelt (preventing wind damages) to other trees.
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