PlantFiles: Lead Tree, White Tamarind, Leucaena
Leucaena leucocephala

I found this plant last summer growing in a 5-gallon pot on the side of the road in a neighbor's throwaway pile. Thinking it was a native False Tamarind ( Lysiloma latisiliqua) I saved it in the backyard while I was busy with other projects. During the rainy season it doubled in size, and when I decided to plant it in my front yard later in the fall I had to hack off the roots that had grown several feet through the pot in all directions. Although this abuse caused the leaves to drop and some of the branch tips to die, the tree almost immediately sprouted new green shoots all over its crown that now have grown over a foot in length (and we are still in the dry season here).

Now that it is flowering and fruiting I am disappointed to find that this is a specimen of Lead Tree instead of a False Tamarind, distinguished by its flat (instead of twisted) seed pods and its solitary flowers (as opposed to the clustered flowers of the False Tamarind). Since it is serving its purpose as a shade tree in front of some large windows for now I suppose I will keep it temporarily while being careful to trim off and dispose of the seed pods, at least until I can grow a more desirable species to take its place.

I bought a house recently in Palm Bay, FL (Central FL) that had what I believe to be White Tamarind trees growing from every imaginable place on the property. They OBVIOUSLY were not planted there intentionally. One tree already 15-20ft. high was growing right out of the base of a hedge directly on the corner of the house. Another was growing out of a seam in one of the downspouts and was already 6ft. high! There were a few trees 3ft. high or so growing out of an untended patch of land full of post-hurricane debris. Not to mention the numerous tiny plants all over the yard from the plethora of seed pods.
These were all growing prolifically and without human care - I can't imagine anyone actually planting one! The guy next door was trying to tell me the one in his yard was a "mango or avocado tree". Needless to say, I felt it my duty to enlighten him.
Definitely in the same category as the pepper tree - Extremely Invasive!

Will freeze to the ground, but will come back in the spring. Gets a late start since it has to grow mature branches in order to bloom, so blooms late summer to early fall here. Will probably do best as a shrub rather than a tree since it doesn't get very big.

This plant is also invasive in much of central and southern Florida, northward to Georgia, including in my Boca Raton area. It is very invasive in natural habitats all over the county I live in and forms large, spreading stands of young and adult trees, crowding out native plants. It is also often found with other invasive, non-native species such as Brazilian Pepper, in natural areas that have already been disturbed by other exotic invaders. NOTE: This plant is also on the Florida Exotic Pest Plants Council's EPPC Plant List Category One due to this invasiveness.

MORE FACTS - This tree also grows in Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Caribbean. The tree also grows in Texas and the Southwestern U.S.

This is a pest. Introduced accidentally from Africa by the same ships that brought african slaves to America, this small tree found in the tropical America its paradise. Propagating itself in heavy quantities every year through the massive seed production, it´s one of the most threats to native ecossystems.

This is a short tree, usually reaching up to 5 meters tall, but sometimes more. It has bipinnate leaves, with leaflets looking grey on the lower page and bright green on the upper one. These leaflets drop constantly, producing an annoying ammount of litter every day.

The flowers are cream coloured, coming in round heads all the year. They will most likely produce dark seed pods with lots of hard brown seeds with a high germinative ratio.

It vegetates on any kind of soil, dry or moist, as long as it have full sun light and high temperatures. Extremely invasive, and should be erradicated outside its natural habitat, before it does the same to our native species.