Abstract

Of the 100 Albizia species distributed in the tropics, about 16 species are indigenous to the Indo-Burma region. The data available for nine species shows that majority of the species have medium timber with a mean air dry specific gravity (SG) ranging from 0. 55 to 0. 67, although A. amara has rather heavy wood (SG 0. 87) and A. stipulata has light wood (SG 0. 42) . Despite the fact that the timber shows a great range of variation in color, weight, and texture among the species, specimens of different species often integrate in color and show striking similarity in wood anatomical features, which makes separation of species impracticable. The heartwood is brown to dark brown in many species, while light brown heartwood is characteristic of species like A. amara and A. stipulata. although A. lebbeck is a well known timber in the trade as a substitute for walnut, a good supply of constructional timber is from species like A. odoratissima and A. procera