Plume Albizia

Perennial, Trees, Shrubs, Woody t hroughout, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Leaves compound, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals united, valvate, Petals greenish yellow, Stamens numerous, more than 10, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or e llipsoidal, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seed with elliptical line or depression, pleurogram, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Paraserianthes lophantha (syn. Albizia lophantha), the Cape Leeuwin wattle, Bicol wattle, Cape wattle, crested wattle or plume albizia, is a fast-growing tree with creamy-yellow, bottlebrush like flowers. It is a small tree (uppermost height approximately 5 metres) that occurs naturally along the southwest coast of Western Australia, from Fremantle to King George Sound. 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.