Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de wit in Brazil: History of an invasive plant.

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to provide a long-term record of oc-currences of the species Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. in the Brazilian territory, in order to (i) determine if its introduction occurred before the earliest official record, (ii) identify points of occurrence in Brazil, and (iii) assess its status as a useful although invasive plant. The text is partly based on research done on the confirmed presence of this plant in the Brasília National Park, located in Brazil’s Federal District. Three databases available on the Internet containing information from several herbariums were accessed to obtain the location and the dates of the relevant records of the plant in Brazilian territory. We found that the species was rather widely present in the Brazilian territory before the official record of its earliest introduction. In addition, we found that the plant’s current geographic distribution indicates that it continues to have a strong invasive potential in Brazil, especially because there are social and technical incentives to cultivate it in rural properties.