Paraserianthes
| Paraserianthes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Paraserianthes I.C.Nielsen (1983) |
| Species: | P. lophantha |
| Binomial name | |
| Paraserianthes lophantha (Willd.) I.C.Nielsen (1983) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Paraserianthes lophantha (syn. Albizia lophantha), the Cape Leeuwin wattle, Bicol wattle, Cape wattle, Crested wattle, Brush wattle or plume albizia, is a fast-growing tree with creamy-yellow, bottlebrush like flowers. It is the sole species in genus Paraserianthes.
It is a small tree (uppermost height approximately 5 metres or 16 feet) that occurs naturally along the southwest coast of Western Australia, from Fremantle to King George Sound. It is also native to Sumatra, Java, and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It was first spread beyond southwest Australia by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave packets of P. lophantha seeds to early explorers under the assumption that if they planted the seeds at their campsites, the trees would indicate the routes they travelled.
It is considered a weed in the parts of Australia where it is not indigenous, as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the Canary Islands, the Philippines and Chile.