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.

A Story of A Bad Tree

Pak Mamat loves gardening. Every day he went to his farm to take care of his banana farm.

One day, a strong wind blew a seed of unknown tree which fell on the ground somewhere in the farm. Not long after that, the seed started to germinate and proudly introduced itself as “Liyusina” tree.

Pak Mamat received a call from his son, Hashim, who lived in town. Hashim’s wife had safely delivered their first baby after two years of marriage. Pak Mamat and his wife, Mak Dibah, excitedly rushed to the town and planned to spend a couple of months there.

During his absence, Liyusina began to dominate Pak Mamat's banana farm. Liyusina is a fast growing tree and produces hundreds of seeds.  The seeds then could germinate and grow as fast as their parents. The banana were threatened by Liyusina’s existence, and soon the banana farm was totally converted to a Liyusina farm.

As Pak Mamat came back from the town, he was shocked to see what had happened to his banana farm. With his full strength, he cut the Liyusina trees one by one. Besides, he also collected the seeds and destroyed them.

However, Liyusina was such a resilient invasive tree. New shoots were sprouted out around the stump in no time after the trees were cut. Even girdling the trunk could not kill Liyusina. The situation became even worst during the rainy seasons because more young shoots and seedlings were sprouting in the farm. 

After thinking hard, Pak Mamat got a brilliant idea.This time, he drilled a small hole in the trunk and injected a herbicide. It was said that the herbicide was very effective to kill the plant cell although it might take some time. 

Gradually after that, the Liyusina leaves started to wither and turned black.The leaves fell and the Liyusina trees appeared weak and dying. Pak Mamat was relieved with the progress. The banana were happy and of course Pak Mamat was the happiest man in the world. 

In the following month, Pak Mamat harvested a lot of banana from his farm. As a way of grateful to the blessing, Pak Mamat shared some of the fruit with his fellow villagers.