Reproductive biology Globular flower heads contain numerous tiny hermaphrodite white flowers. Flowering starts within a year of germination and after two years trees produce fruits all year round. Flowering increases under moisture stress or with the onset of shorter days in the sub-tropics. In India there are two flowering and fruiting seasons with a period of around four months separating flowering from pod dehiscence. Resilience and resistance Leaves are shed as a result of light frosts and after a heavy frost all above ground growth will die but the crown will survive and sprout vigorously the following year.
Some Mexican provenances appear to be more frost tolerant.
This very deep-rooted species fixes nitrogen and is drought tolerant even at the young seedling stage. Environmental requirements and successional status L. leucocephala has moderate tolerance for shade as it can regenerate under its own canopy and under Lantana camara . Products and uses It is used as a shade plant in coffee, rubber, cacao and cinchona plantations, for reforestation, windbreaks and firebreaks. Necklaces are made with the seeds. The extent of its range is uncertain but it is native to Mexico and probably to Central America and West Indies.