Samanea saman is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, now in the Mimosoid clade[5] and is native to Central and South America.

It has been variously attributed to local names ki hujan or pokok hujan ("rain tree") in Indonesia and Malaysia because its leaves fold during rainy days (allowing rain to fall through the tree);[15] the way the relative abundance of grass under the tree in comparison to surrounding areas; the steady drizzle of honeydew-like discharge of cicadas feeding on the leaves; the occasional shower of sugary secretions from the nectaries on the leaf petioles; to the shedding of stamens during heavy flowering.

[citation needed] In Latin America, it is variously known as samán, cenízaro, cenicero, genízaro, carreto, carreto negro, delmonte, dormilón, guannegoul, algarrobo del país, algarrobo, campano, carabeli, couji, lara, urero, or zarza in Spanish; and chorona in Portuguese.

[14] In the Pacific Islands, it is known as filinganga in the Northern Marianas; trongkon-mames in Guam; gumorni spanis in Yap; kasia kula or mohemohe in Tonga; marmar in New Guinea; ʻohai in Hawaii; tamalini or tamaligi in Samoa; and vaivai ni vavalangi, vaivai moce or sirsa in Fiji.

[citation needed] In Southeast Asia, it is known as akasya or palo de China in the Philippines;[14] meh or trembesi in Indonesia; pukul lima ("five o'clock tree") in Malaysia and Singapore;[17][18] ampil barang ("Western tamarind") in Cambodia;[19] ก้ามปู (kampu), ฉำฉา (chamcha), จามจุรีแดง (chamchuri daeng), จามจุรี (chamchuri) in Thai; ကုက္ကို (kokko) in Myanmar; and còng, muồng tím, or cây mưa ("rain tree") in Vietnam.

In South Asia, it is known as shiriisha in Sanskrit; শিরীষ (shirish) in Bengali; shirish in Gujarati; सीरस (vilaiti siris) in Hindi; bagaya mara in Kannada; ചക്കരക്കായ്‌ മരം (chakkarakkay maram) in Malayalam; विलायती शिरीश in Marathi; මාර (māra) in Sinhalese; தூங்குமூஞ்சி மரம் (thoongu moonji maram, "sleepy faced tree") in Tamil; and నిద్ర గన్నేరు (nidra ganneru) in Telugu.

These include arbre à (la) pluie (France), árbol de lluvia (Spain); and Regenbaum (Germany).

[6] The "Samanea saman" tree is one of several types of host plants that allows lac insects (Kerria lacca) infestation.

The resultant copious sap/insect discharge caused by this insect is a harden material that is subsequently collected and processed into lac/shellac and used in making lacquerware and wood finishes.

Since its introduction to Cambodia, Chankiri has been widely planted across the country thanks to its tall height and expansive branches that can shade large areas.

[citation needed] When Alexander von Humboldt travelled in the Americas from 1799 to 1804, he encountered a giant saman tree near Maracay, Venezuela.

[22] The tree, called Samán de Güere (transcribed Zamang del Guayre by von Humboldt) still stands today, and is a Venezuelan national treasure.

As von Humboldt's report makes clear, according to local tradition, it would be older than 500 years today, which is rather outstanding by the genus' standards.