Tree to about 7 m tall. Leaves with 3-6 pairs of primary divisions, with a gland at the junction of the lowest pair. Leaflets in 6-20 pairs, each 0.5-2 cm long,1.5-4 mm wide. Flowers 1.5-2 cm wide, green to creamy white; summer. Fruit pods 8-18 cm long, 2 cm wide, with a stalk 2-3 cm long.

Widely naturalised in many regions of the world, especially the tropics, sometimes forming dense thickets. Naturalised in Australia in N NSW, Qld and the NT.

Tropical America.

As green manure and as fodder for livestock (toxic to non-ruminants), sometimes for the wood or for erosion control, the seeds as beads.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Mimosaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.