Who is Liyusina?

Who is Liyusina? Those who read my post on “A Story of A Bad Tree” might think that I was just creating a story for kids. Well, yes! That’s the idea.

Photo: Wirawandesa (http://madisyak.blogspot.com)

But the truth is Liyusina does exist in our real life.  Leucaena leucocephala is known as Petai Belalang in Malaysia. I could easily see the tree along the roadside at Sungai Buloh and on my way to Putrajaya. While searching some information of this tree species, I’ve found out that the young pods are edible and there’s also a recipe of Sambal Petai Belalang over the internet! 

I was attending an international seminar on “Reclamation, Rehabilitation and Restoration Towards Greener Asia” in July 2012. During the seminar, two presenters from Taiwan raised the issue of Leucaena leucocephala which has been highly invasive in certain part of Taiwan.

What happened at the West Coast of HengChung, Southern Taiwan?

1) Forest have been seriously invaded by Leucaena leucocephala which is listed in the world’s 100 worst invasive species.

2) Leucaena leucocephala is almost a mono-species plant and could be dominated stands replacing the native-species.

3) All Leucaena leucocephala  trees were cut and removed in removal strips of 6m or 12m, but about 20 new sprouts occurred around the stump in a week.

 

4) The best way to kill the tree is by drilling a small hole in the trunk and injecting glyphosate herbicide.