The 'Peru' type, treelike also, branches low down on the trunk, it contains several cvs highly productive of forage. There is quite a variability in mimosine content and cleaner cvs are in order. Colombian cvs and Leucaena pulverulenta have much less mimosine. Assigned to the Middle America Center of Diversity, leadtree or cultivars thereof is reported to exhibit tolerance to aluminum, disease, drought, high pH, heavy soil , laterite, light frost, limestone, low pH, salt, slopes, weeds, and wind. Distribution Native throughout the West Indies from Bahamas and Cuba to Trinidad and Tobago, and from southern Mexico to northern South America.
Ecology Requires long, warm, wet growing seasons, doing best under full sun.
In Indonesia it is grown to 1,350 m, in Java to 1,080 m. Its growth rate is slower, at higher altitudes. About one dm per month is required for good growth. The plant is known for its drought tolerance. The leadtree thrives on a wide range of soils, but the most rapid growth is on deep clay soils which are fertile, moist and alkaline.