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This species appears on the following legally prohibited plant lists

UF-IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas

CATEGORY I on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s (FLEPPC) 2017 List of Invasive Plant Species

Download a recognition card (PDF) from Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should Know3

Download a page (PDF) from Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition1

Control information: Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida (EDIS publication SP 242)4

Albizia lebbeck is occasionaly found at disturbed sites in the southern penisula and central regions of Florida. Woman’s tongue is native to Asia but escaped cultivation (Wunderlin, 1998).

Appearance

Deciduous, unarmed tree to 20 m (65 ft) tall, with a rounded, spreading crown and pale bark.

Leaves:

Alternate, twice compound, with 2–5 pairs of pinnae, each pinna with 3–10 pairs of leaflets; leaflets elliptic-oblong, 2–4 cm (1–2 in) long. Usually asymmetrical at base, dull green above, paler green below.

Flowers

Mimosa-like, in showy, rounded clusters near stem tips, 5–6 cm (2–2.5 in) across, cream or yellowish-white; each flower with numerous long stamens.

Fruit

Flat, linear pod, to 30 cm (1 ft) long, with many seeds; dried pods persistent after leaf-fall, often heard rattling in the wind.

Ecological threat

Invading tropical hammocks in the Florida Keys and the somewhat disturbed pinelands of Everglades National Park. Also invading pine rocklands and canopy gaps in the rockland hammocks in Dade County. LEPPC Category I

Distribution

C, SW, SE

Text from Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should Know – Recognition Cards 3

More Resources

View the herbarium specimen image from the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.

View more information and pictures about half-flower, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book.1

Citations

1. Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition, by K.A. Langeland, H.M. Cherry, et al. University of Florida-IFAS Publication # SP 257. 2008.

2. Strangers in Paradise, Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida, Chapter 2: Florida’s Invasion by Nonindigenous Plants: History, Screening, and Regulation, by D.R. Gordon and K.P. Thomas, pp. 21-37. Island Press, Washington, DC, 1997.

3. Invasive and Non-native Plants You Should Know – Recognition Cards, by A. Richard and V. Ramey. University of Florida-IFAS Publication # SP 431. 2007.

4. Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida, by K. A. Langeland, J. A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G. E. MacDonald, and R. K. Stocker. University of Florida-IFAS Publication # SP 242. 2011.

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