Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
lead tree

lead tree

7.9
A low bushy tropical tree with feathery leaves and long pods used for animal food and to help the soil
  • noun
translation icon : árbol de leucaena
  • The lead tree produces long pods that are used as animal fodder in many tropical regions.

Examples

  • Some gardeners value the lead tree for its rapid growth and attractive, feathery foliage.

  • Farmers often plant lead trees for soil improvement.

  • Farmers often plant lead tree to provide shade and improve soil fertility in their fields.

  • The lead tree is known for its feathery leaves.

  • Farmers often plant lead tree to provide shade and improve soil fertility in their fields.

  • The lead tree produces long pods that are used as animal fodder in many tropical regions.

  • Some gardeners value the lead tree for its rapid growth and attractive, feathery foliage.

Synonyms

Leucaena glauca
vslead tree
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bushy tree with yellow-white flowers and long seed pods that farmers grow for animal fodder

is the common name used in ordinary speech rather than the scientific form
Leucaena leucocephala
vslead tree
  • Specialized
9.9

A low scrubby tree from warm countries with white or yellow flowers and long flat seed pods

refers to the general common plant grown for fodder and soil improvement
white popinac
vslead tree
  • US
9.9

A small tree with white flowers with some yellow and long flat pods that grows in warm places

is the general cultivated name focusing on fodder and soil benefits

Surface Forms

lead tree singular
lead trees plural

Morphology

lead + tree

This is a lexicalized plant name: the word 'lead' here does not transparently refer to the metal and does not describe an obvious property of the tree, so a B1 learner who knows 'lead' (the element) and 'tree' would not be able to infer the specific botanical meaning. The compound is essentially an arbitrary name for a species (Leucaena leucocephala), making the overall meaning unpredictable from its parts.

Etymology

Lead tree may come from the way its long, flat seed pods hang from the branches like thin bars of lead, so people thought of the heavy metal. That's why the name stuck to this fast-growing tree that gives long pods for 'animal food' and helps improve the soil.