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Samanea saman is a species of Flowering plant tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, now in the Mimosoideae and is native to Central and South America. (2025). 9780970254450, Permanent Agricultural Resources. ISBN 9780970254450 It is often placed in the genus Samanea, which by yet other authors is subsumed in Albizia entirely.
Its range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, but it has been widely introduced to South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii. It is a well-known tree, rivaled perhaps only by lebbeck and pink siris among its genus. It is well represented in many languages and has numerous local names in its native range; common English names include saman, rain tree and monkeypod (see also below).
In Cambodia it is colloquially known as the Chankiri Tree (can be written ចន្ទគិរី or ចន្ទ៍គីរី).
This species of flowering tree in the Fabaceae family is native to Central and South America but has been widely introduced across the tropics, especially South and Southeast Asia.
Its branches have velvety and hairy bark. Large branches of the tree tend to break off, particularly during rainstorms. This can be hazardous as the tree is very commonly used for avenue plantation.
A rain tree leaf is pinnate made of 6–16 leaflets, each leaflet is shaped like a diamond long and wide with a dull top surface and finely hairy beneath. The tree sheds its leaves for a while during dry periods. Its crown is big and can provide shade, but allows rain to fall through into the ground beneath it.
The leaves fold in rainy weather and in the evenings, hence the names rain tree and five o'clock tree.
The seed pods of the tree are curved and leathery; they contain sticky, edible flesh covering the flat, oval seeds.
The original name, saman - known in many languages and used for the specific epithet - derives from zamang, meaning "Mimosoideae tree" in some Cariban languages of northern Venezuela. This name is also where its genus name Samanea comes from.
The origin of the name "rain tree" is unknown. It has been variously attributed to local names ki hujan or pokok hujan ("rain tree") in Indonesia and Malaysia because its leaves fold during rainy days (allowing rain to fall through the tree); the way the relative abundance of grass under the tree in comparison to surrounding areas; the steady drizzle of honeydew-like discharge of feeding on the leaves; the occasional shower of sugary secretions from the nectaries on the ; to the shedding of during heavy flowering.
In the Caribbean, it is sometimes known as marsave. It is also known as algarrobo in Cuba; guannegoul(e) in Haiti; and goango or guango in Jamaica. In French-speaking islands, it is known as gouannegoul or saman.
In Latin America, it is variously known as samán, cenízaro, cenicero, genízaro, carreto, carreto negro, delmonte, dormilón, guannegoul, algarrobo del país, algarrobo, campano, carabeli, couji, lara, urero, or zarza in Spanish language; and chorona in Portuguese.
In the Pacific Islands, it is known as filinganga in the Northern Marianas; trongkon-mames in Guam; gumorni spanis in Yap; kasia kula or mohemohe in Tonga; marmar in New Guinea; ohai in Hawaii; tamalini or tamaligi in Samoa; and vaivai ni vavalangi, vaivai moce or sirsa in Fiji. The former comes from vaivai "watery" (in allusion to the tree's "rain") + vavalagi "foreign". In some parts of Vanua Levu, Fiji the word vaivai is used to describe the lebbeck, because of the sound the seedpods make, and the word mocemoce (sleepy, or sleeping) is used for A. saman due to the 'sleepiness' of its leaves.
In Southeast Asia, it is known as ຕົ້ນສາມສາ ( ton sam sa) in
/ref> akasya or palo de China in the Philippines; meh or trembesi in Indonesia; pukul lima ("five o'clock tree") in Malaysia and Singapore; ampil barang ("Western tamarind") in Cambodia; ก้ามปู ( kampu), ฉำฉา ( chamcha), จามจุรีแดง ( chamchuri daeng), จามจุรี ( chamchuri) in Thai language; ကုက္ကို ( kokko) in Myanmar; and còng, muồng tím, or cây mưa ("rain tree") in Vietnam.
In South Asia, it is known as 'shiriisha in Sanskrit; শিরীষ (shirish ) in Bengali language; shirish in Gujarati; सीरस (vilaiti siris ) in Hindi; bagaya mara in Kannada; ചക്കരക്കായ് മരം (chakkarakkay maram ) in Malayalam; विलायती शिरीश in Marathi language; මාර (māra ) in Sinhala language; தூங்குமூஞ்சி மரம் (thoongu moonji maram , "sleepy faced tree") in Tamil language; and నిద్ర గన్నేరు (nidra ganneru'') in Telugu language.
In Madagascar, it is also known as bonara (mbaza), kily vazaha, madiromany, mampihe, or mampohehy.
In regions where the tree does not usually grow, its names are usually direct translations of "rain tree". These include arbre à (la) pluie (France), árbol de lluvia (Spain); and Regenbaum (Germany).
Its wood shows high chatoyance and it is used for carving and making furniture.
The "Samanea saman" tree is one of several types of host plants that allows Kerria lacca ( Kerria lacca) infestation. The resultant copious sap/insect discharge caused by this insect is a harden material that is subsequently collected and processed into lac/shellac and used in making lacquerware and wood finishes.
Since its introduction to Cambodia, the Samanea saman is known locally as chankiri (ចន្ទគិរី). It has been widely planted across the country thanks to its tall height and expansive branches that can shade large areas, and as an ornamental. The fruit is eaten, and in famine times the young leaves are eaten in salads.
is the official Khmer name for the plant because the flowers from this tree resemble the beautiful long-haired tail of the (known in English as yak). (French tamarind) is another colloquial name for it in Cambodia.
It was a coincidence that the Chankiri tree at the Killing Fields is one of the many trees against which the Khmer Rouge executioners beat young children and there are no specific associations locally between the Chankiri tree and the Khmer Rouge.
The tree, called Samán de Güere (transcribed Zamang del Guayre by von Humboldt) still stands today, and is a Venezuelan national treasure. Just like the dragon tree on Tenerife, the age of the saman in Venezuela is rather indeterminate. As von Humboldt's report makes clear, according to local tradition, it would be older than 500 years today, which is rather outstanding by the genus' standards. It is certain, however, the tree is quite more than 200 years old today, but it is one exceptional individual; even the well-learned von Humboldt could not believe it was actually the same species as the saman trees he knew from the at Schönbrunn Castle.von Humboldt & Bonpland (1820): p.99 footnote A famous specimen called the "Brahmaputra Rain Tree" located at Guwahati on the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India has the thickest trunk of any Saman; approximately diameter at breast height (DBH). The size of the pollen is around 119 microns and it is polyad of 24 to 32 grains.
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