Albizia julibrissin - Acacia rose de Constantinople

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil

Vent

Tolère les vents forts

Humidité

Sol sec à moyen. Tolère la sécheresse.

Sol

Tous sols. Nécessite un sol drainant. Tolère les sols pauvres.

pH

Sol acide ou calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 7

Habitat originel

Open sunny ravines, forests and by rivers up to 2100 metres in the Himalayas[51, 158].

Origine géographique

W. Asia and E. Asia - Iran to China.

Comestibilité

• Jeunes feuilles - cuites .
• An aromatic flavour[2, 106, 178, 179], they are used as a potherb [183].
• Flowers - cooked .
• Eaten as a vegetable [183].
• The dried leaves are a tea substitute [177, 183].

Usages médicinaux

• The flower heads are carminative, digestive, sedative and tonic [176, 218, 238].
• They are used internally in the treatment of insomnia, irritability, breathlessness and poor memory [176, 238].
• The flowers are harvested as they open and are dried for later use [238].
• The stembark is anodyne, anthelmintic, carminative, discutient, diuretic, oxytocic, sedative, stimulant, tonic, vermifuge and vulnerary [176, 178, 218].
• It is used internally in the treatment of insomnia, irritability, boils and carbuncles [238].
• Externally, it is applied to injuries and swellings [238].
• The bark is harvested in spring or late summer and is dried for later use [238].
• A gummy extract obtained from the plant is used as a plaster for abscesses, boils etc and also as a retentive in fractures and sprains [218].

Autres usages

• A gummy extract of the plant is used as a plaster [178].
• Pas plus de détails ne sont précisés .
• Wood - dense, hard, strong, takes a good polish .
• Used for furniture, industrial applications, firewood etc [74, 158, 272].

Culture

• Requires a well-drained moisture retentive soil and a very sunny position [200].
• Réussi dans les sols secs .
• Highly fertile soils can promote soft sappy growth which is frost tender [200].
• Trees tolerate a high pH, saline soils, high winds and drought [200, 238].
• They also succeed in poor soils [238].
• Trees prefer a more continental climate than Britain[11] and when dormant are hardy to about -20°c in such a zone [200].
• They are only hardy to about -10°c in the maritime climate of this country [200].
• The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun [K].
• They succeed on a sunny wall at Kew[11], and also in a more open but sunny sheltered position there[K], but only really succeed outdoors in the mildest areas of Britain [1].
• If killed back to the ground by a severe winter, plants can often resprout from the base [200].
• The form 'Rosea' is hardier and more compact, succeeding even in the drier parts of Britain if given some protection [11].
• Plants are quite tolerant of pruning and can be fan-trained for growing on a wall .
• Any pruning is best done in late winter or early spring [202].
• Often grown as a summer bedding plant [1].
• Quite tolerant of being transplanted [200].
• Plants often produce suckers [200].
• Les plantes de ce genre sont notamment résistantes aux armillaires (champignons) [200].
• Ces plantes ont une relation symbiotique avec des bactéries du sol qui forment des nodules sur les racines et fixent l'azote atmosphérique .
• Une partie de cet azote est utilisé par la plante mais une partie est disponible aux autres plantes poussant à proximité [200].

Propagation

• Seed - pre-soak 24 hours in hot water and sow March/April in a greenhouse or sow as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame [113].
• Germinates in 2 - 3 months at 19°c .
• Scarification helps [133].
• There are about 11,000 seeds to a pound, about 25 - 33% of which germinate [227].
• Prick out the seedlings into individual pots of fairly rich soil when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter .
• Plant out in late spring or early summer and consider giving them some protection from the cold for their first winter or two outdoors [K].
• Root cuttings, late winter in a greenhouse [113, 200].
• Boutures de bois mi-mûr, Juillet/Août sous chassis [200].
• Suckers planted out in late winter [200].