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| Silk tree(AKA Mimosa in the US) | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Species | ||||||||||||||
| Albizia julibrissin |
Albizia is a genus of about 150 species of mostly subtropical & tropical trees and shrubs in the Mimosoideae subfamily of the Fabaceae, pantropical but mostly in the old world.
One species A. julibrissin, the Silk tree or Pink siris, extends well north into temperate regions in east Asia, tolerating temperatures down to about -30°C, provided it gets adequate summer heat to ripen the shoots. In North America, where it is commonly grown as an ornamental tree, it is often confusingly called "mimosa", a name which correctly belongs to Mimosa pudica and other species in the genus Mimosa.
Although widely planted as an ornamental, it seeds itself very freely and is becoming regarded as an invasive species.