Plant · P-077

Leucaena

Leucaena leucocephala

Leucaena fixes nitrogen faster than almost anything else on record, 150 to 300 kg per hectare a year, and its leaves and seed run as rich in protein as alfalfa. Young pods, leaves and flower buds are eaten raw or cooked, the seed roasts as a coffee substitute, and the wood supplies firewood, charcoal and timber. Its foliage carries mimosine, a compound that limits how much of it different livestock can safely eat and rules out horses and donkeys entirely, so feeding it takes care. It only holds up where days stay warm year-round - heavy frost kills it outright, and it is also a regulated noxious weed in some places, so its legal status is worth checking before planting.