Tribe Ingeae Higher classification Legumes | Subfamily Mimosoideae Scientific name Falcataria Rank Genus | |
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Similar Falcataria moluccana, Paraserianthes, Peacocksplume, Albizia chinensis, Legumes | ||
Falcataria is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. The genus has three species previously classified in the genus Paraserianthes by I.C. Neilsen. The distribution of these closely related species within the genus Falcataria links the wet tropics of north-east Australia to New Guinea, the Moluccas, Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands east of Wallace's line similar to other plant taxa from the region.
Contents
Species
Taxonomy
Falcataria moluccana had previously been classified within the genera Adenanthera, Albizia, and Paraserianthes before being moved to the new genus Falcataria as the only species in the genus. This widely cultivated timber tree is still called by the common name "albizia" in Hawaii and elsewhere.
The two additional species in the genus Paraserianthes (P. pullenii and P. toona) were identified using morphology to form the Falcataria group with P. falcataria (=Falcataria moluccana) by I.C. Neilsen. A molecular phylogenetics study using genomic DNA and chloroplast DNA sequence data of these two species found them be closely related to Falcataria moluccana. These three species formed a well supported clade together that was distinctly different from Paraserianthes lophantha and so were moved to the genus Falcataria.
