Leucaena esculenta (moc. & Sessé ex Dc.) Benth.

A shrub or tree. It grows 2 m tall. It can be 10-15 m tall. The trunk can be 20-70 cm across. It has several stems. The branches are heavy and spreading. The bark is thick and corky. The leaves are twice divided. There are 30-40 pairs of pinnae and the leaflets are 4-7 mm long by 1 mm wide. There are 60-75 pairs on each pinnae. The flower heads are 25-28 mm across. There are 150-170 flowers in a head. The pods are 15-25 cm long by 23-26 mm wide. There are 1-2 on each flower head.

A canopy tree in seasonally dry, deciduous tropical forest and at higher elevations in oak, oak-juniper and juniper forest; at elevations from 600-1,800 metres, occasionally to 2,080 metres.

The young seeds are stripped from the pod and eaten raw. They are also roasted or dried. They are used in soups, stews, tortillas, and salads. They can be ground and added to chilli sauces. Young pods, leaves and flower buds are used as greens. The galls that develop of the leaves and pods are eaten raw, roasted or boiled.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs soaking.