Thread: Tree ID

The leaves are usually more open than that during the day - those pics were taken toward evening.

Albizia sp., with various common names perhaps the most common being 'siris'.

They are certainly common street & yard trees in Qld. The trees grown here are likely introduced from S.E. Asia but they do occur naturally in northern Australia. Mackay cedar ("red siris") is a relative & used to be named Albizia but has been removed to another genus. They both give me the sniffles when flowering!

Cheers,

Thanks very much Ian, much appreciated!

If you are planning on using the wood, be cautious as the dust from Albizia's is known to cause breathing problems for some people.

Originally Posted by IanW

Albizia sp., with various common names perhaps the most common being 'siris'.

They are certainly common street & yard trees in Qld. The trees grown here are likely introduced from S.E. Asia but they do occur naturally in northern Australia. Mackay cedar ("red siris") is a relative & used to be named Albizia but has been removed to another genus. They both give me the sniffles when flowering!

Cheers,

Ian, I am not familiar with the Sirus or Albizia family and so I had a look at Bootles and on Wood-database.com. Of the identifiers that I found, it seems that only the indigenous Australian tree, Albizia toona, has that distinctive dark red heartwood and white sapwood up to 50 mm wide. It seems that mannetje's sample might be Albizia toona?

As you mention Albizia toona has been moved to another genus and is now Paraserianthes toona; still red siris.

Albizia lebbeck maybe?

Popular cultivar this species

Log Dog

Thanks for the warning Mobyturns, that's good to know - I have used the related Red Siris before and know what you mean... I think you could be right Log Dog - looking at online pics of Albizia lebbeck it certainly looks a lot like it. Thanks for looking it up Graeme, but I'm leaning more toward it being an Albizia lebbeck than a Red Siris (Albizia toona/Paraserianthes toona). If we look at the bark in the pics I posted it looks more like the Albizia lebbeck bark on this page

Albizia lebbeck

than the Red Siris (Paraserianthes toona) pictured here

Paraserianthes toona Mimosaceae – Native Plants Queensland – Townsville Branch

What do you think?

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

...... Of the identifiers that I found, it seems that only the indigenous Australian tree, Albizia toona, has that distinctive dark red heartwood and white sapwood up to 50 mm wide. It seems that mannetje's sample might be Albizia toona? ...

Graeme, I suspect you could be wrong there - a few years ago I confused some billets that came from a couple of trees on the UQ campus that were removed to make way for yet more construction. I thought they had cut down some Tipuanas (another very common weed round here!) which were mixed with the Albizias, but was put straight by fellow forumites. What caught my eye in the first place was that the heartwood in the stumps was very dark - darker than the bits of Mackay cedar I've seen at wood shows, but that is possibly simply because the Albizia was 'wet' & the MC was dry'. It looked just like Mannetje's pics with the same wide sapwood band...

The bark is variable, depending which part of the trunk you are looking at, it's less coarse on young trees and branches of older trees. This is A. lebbeck according to my tame botanist mate:
Albizia lebbeck bark.jpg Albizia pods & resid leaves.jpg Albizia pods.jpg

Cheers,
Ian

Originally Posted by IanW

What caught my eye in the first place was that the heartwood in the stumps was very dark - darker than the bits of Mackay cedar I've seen at wood shows, but that is possibly simply because the Albizia was 'wet' & the MC was dry'. It looked just like Mannetje's pics with the same wide sapwood band...
Cheers,
Ian

I agree 100% - the colours and hues of fresh cut wood can be very different to dry wood - e.g. camphor laurel.