Samanea saman (also known as the rain tree or monkey pod tree) is a species of flowering tree in the pea family.

Monkey pod tree is an evergreen tree, which can grow to a large size reaching heights of 50 to 80 feet with a broad, umbrella like canopy which can be as wide as the tree is tall. The Canopy is what makes the tree special.

The tree grows biggest when grown in open spaces where it has freedom to spread out, and makes for a great shade tree. They are often planted in pastures, along roadsides, or even in parking spaces to provide shade.

Besides monkey Pod, the tree is also called Rain tree because the leaves curl up at night or when hit by rains which allows water to fall down easily allowing vegetation to grow lush around the base of the tree. Rain tree also adds a lot of nitrogen around the soil from its seed pods falling. Another reason why it is called a rain tree is because when the tree is heavily flowering the stamens from the flowers sometimes drop to the ground, like rain.