Seed of the Week: White Leadtree

As Craig recognized, our mystery seeds last week were from the white leadtree, Leucaena leucocephala.

Originally from Central and South America, the white tree has been planted throughout the world. It has been used for forage and wood.

Here in Arizona it has been planted as a street tree.

Unfortunately the characteristics that make it attractive – being hardy and fast growing – also make it a potential weed. It is already on the invasive list in many countries.

The leadtree produces many white, round flowers throughout the spring. They turn brown once they have been pollinated.

White leadtrees produce many seed pods, which can look messy hanging on the tree.

Each of those bumps is a seed, stacked up in rows in the pod. One pod may contain up to 20 seeds.

That’s a lot of new potential trees!

Do leadtrees grow where you live?

What do you think of them?