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The umbrella that keeps rain away
A common sight along the roads of Colombo, this tree can be seen on the side of roads in rural areas as well. Little surprise then that it has been named the Para Mara in Sinhala. In Tamil it is called the Enal vakai. The botanical name appears to pose some difficulties since it is called the Albizia saman by some scholars while others refer to it as the Pithecolobium saman.

Both names however, hark back to the origins of this tree in Central and South America where it is commonly known as the Saman tree. It made its way over to Sri Lanka in the 1850s.

It is a large, spreading tree with a dense, umbrella shaped crown. The diameter of the crown is often larger than the height of the tree itself, making it an ideal shade tree. And certainly pedestrians in Colombo, especially on Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Reid Avenue and Thurstan Road are thankful for the shade provided by these silent giants.

This tree can be easily identified by its spreading crown and by its flowers. During the flowering season of March to May the crown is covered with feathery pink flowers which have been aptly described as "powder puffs" (in What Tree is That? by Miththapala et al).

The leaves which are made up of little leaflets are velvety on both sides and change position depending on the light conditions. In bright sunlight the leaves are flat and open while in cloudy weather they fold one on the other and droop down. This has led to a belief that when the leaflets fold, it will soon rain and this is one explanation given for the tree's common name (Miththapala et al, What Tree is That?). Macmillan (Tropical Planting and Gardening) has a slightly different explanation. During the day the leaves provide a canopy of shade since they are open. At night they close up.

Thus in periods of drought a patch of green can be seen beneath the canopy of the tree while all around is parched and brown, leading to a "supposition that the tree mysteriously produced rain at night".

The fruits of these trees are in the form of flat, brown pods which contain a sweet sugary pulp. This is a favourite food of cattle. In earlier times it was even exported from Central America for use as cattle fodder. The timber is dark brown and is good for manufacturing furniture. In Sri Lanka however, the tree is most often used as a roadside tree to provide shade.

Unfortunately it is not always suited for this purpose since it can grow to be very large at which point it could pose a danger to pedestrians. In moist areas it grows rapidly and becomes very large, top heavy and loses its symmetrical nature.

This together with its shallow root-system make it vulnerable to strong winds especially in areas with heavy vehicular traffic, such as we see in Colombo. Where it is planted in such areas, care must be taken to ensure that the tree is pruned regularly and that the root-system is given sufficient space (free of concrete and the like) to grow and breathe.

Compiled by:
Ruk Rakaganno, The Tree Society of Sri Lanka
2554438; email: rukraks@sltnet.lk

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