Albizia adianthifolia

Albizia adianthifolia, the flat-crown or West African albizia, is a large deciduous tree of the legume family (Fabaceae) reaching up to 25 m tall, with a distinctive spreading, flat-topped crown. The trunk bears smooth to slightly fissured grey bark, and the twigs are minutely hairy. Leaves are twice-compound (bipinnate), with several pairs of pinnae each bearing small, asymmetric, oblong leaflets about 2–5 mm wide by 8 mm long that give the tree a fine, ferny appearance. In winter and spring it produces heavily scented, fluffy hemispherical flower heads with numerous white to pale pink stamens, followed by flat, oblong, papery pods containing several seeds that germinate readily in sandy ground. The species favours warm, high-rainfall areas with sandy soils and occurs across tropical and southern Africa, where in South Africa it forms part of the coastal lowland forest canopy.